Title: Desire
Chapter: Just a one shot
Pairings: Swan Queen (obviously) set way after Neverland, where Regina and Emma are married.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine; I own no rights to them, just using them for creative fun.
A/N: This is just a fluffy one shot that I decided to write on a whim. Though I have to say that the Mirror of Erised is a magical object from the Harry Potter world, but for instance of this story I've made it so as it was a part of Fairytale land world instead.
Henry looked up from his cereal to his birth mother, who seemed too distracted by the plate of eggs and bacon that Regina had made for her, to have noticed his staring. She licked her lips hungrily and shoved a strip of bacon in her mouth.
"Emma, are you going to Mr. Gold's shop later?" He asked before he sipped at the orange juice Regina had also prepared for him, just like every other morning. Smiling as he watched Emma gulp down a large bite before she spoke, Henry hadn't stopped to notice he had also drawn Regina's attention to the conversation him and Emma were having.
"Yeah, Belle told me that he's opening his shop to Storybrooke's people. Many people's possessions and things are in that shop, so he's allowing people to have a look and see if any of the stuff is theirs-"
"No doubt for a price," Regina interrupted while she turned around from the plates she was placing in the dishwasher to stare at Emma with a raised eyebrow. Emma snickered at her wife's assumption and shook her head, finding it amusing that that was her own reaction to the news as well.
"Actually no," she replied light heartedly before taking another bite of bacon. Both Henry and Regina's eyebrows creased in exactly the same fashion, a look Emma had learnt only a Mills was capable of.
"He's giving away the stuff for free?" Henry asked with a hint of pride. Though he knew his adoptive mother had taken no liking to the pawnbroker, Henry had secretly wished for the man's happiness, after all, Gold was his grandfather.
"Yeah, him and Belle are having a go at the whole 'happy ending' stuff. And apparently this is the first step forward." After she had finished explaining Emma quickly shoved the last bit of egg into her mouth and stood up, walking over side by side of Regina to clean off her plate.
Henry also jumped off his chair, making the chair screech against the laminated flooring, much to Regina's frustration, and handed his own plate to Emma.
"Can I go with you? I want to look at all the cool stuff in there," he asked, looking up to his blond mother with a hopeful expression he knew she couldn't refuse.
"Why does Gold need you to attend? I'm sure he's more that perfectly able to take care of his own shop," Regina asked – not giving Emma a chance to answer Henry, the distaste in her tone making it clear on her view of the situation. No matter what that man was in relation to Henry, he was still dangerous. She would not sit well with the idea of her wife- and her son going by the innocent goofy grin he was giving Emma, knowing full well that Emma would relent to that face- walking around Rumpelstiltskin's territory with God knows what dangerous objects laid out across the place.
"He just wants security in knowing that no one would try to steal any stuff that's not theirs with the Sheriff around." She replied after giving Regina a reassuring smile and nudge to the elbow.
"With the Sheriff around?" Regina repeated the blond's words. "He's the dark one. I'd find it highly surprising that people would turn up in the first place," Regina acknowledged after giving Emma a towel to dry her hands. Henry rolled his eyes at his mother and turned to Emma, grabbing a plate from her and placing it in the dishwasher, all the while still eagerly waiting for an answer to his question. He heard Emma sigh beside him, guessing that his birth mother had guessed beforehand how Regina would have reacted.
"I promised Belle I'd go; she's been good to us, babysitting Henry when we ask sometimes," Emma told Regina, attempting to reason with her wife. "David's taking care of the station-" Regina simply rolled her eyes at the comment, finding out one of the idiots was taking care of her town didn't help her reduce her dislike to the whole situation.
"Well if you insist on taking our son into the dark one's territory then I will be going with you," Regina insisted, leaving no time for excuses. Henry jumped up into the air with his fist and a cheer of victory, clearly happy with the settlement. Emma couldn't have helped but smirk at Henry, glad to see he was just as happy, if not even more, at knowing both of his mothers were to be going. Even Regina couldn't help suppress a joyful smile at Henry's sudden happy outburst, a heart-warming feeling rose in her chest at knowing her son was delighted that they were going as a family.
"Well that settles it then kid, looks like we're all going," Emma confirmed with a smile before ruffling his hair and grinning when he tried to get away from her hands. Once he was sure Emma wouldn't mess up his hair again he moved to them both and gave them a tight hug, squeezing them slightly before letting go and running off.
"Thanks moms!" He yelled behind before sprinting up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Emma quietly laughed and gave Regina the last plate to be placed in the dishwasher.
"I'm going to get ready then, see you in a sec." Emma then leaned over and placed a soft kiss to Regina's cheek before running up the stairs much like Henry moments before, not before falling on the last step mind. Regina rolled her eyes and continued cleaning up.
"I'm living with children."
"Wow!" Henry exclaimed as he examined the shining ruby slippers Belle handed over to him to look at. Even Emma looked at the shoes with wide eyes. They had only entered the shop ten minutes ago and yet she was already gob smacked by all the items she didn't realise Gold actually had in his possession. Regina all but rolled her eyes at the excitement Emma shared when she first glanced at the footwear, she was acting as much as an excited child as Henry. It was like having two children.
"No way, Dorothy's a real person?" Emma questioned when Henry offered one of the slippers for her to look at. She turned them upside down and then inspected the inside of them, as if she were expecting a 'made from China' imprint or sticker to prove they were fake. Emma licked her lips and then squinted her eyes at the other pair Henry was holding; wondering what would happen if she were to click them together three times. Her thoughts were ripped away from her when Regina appeared behind her, snickering at the sight of the ruby slippers.
"Yes, she's very real." Regina confirmed over Emma's shoulder, earning fascinated expressions from both her son and wife.
"You knew Dorothy? Like Wizard of Oz, lions and tigers and bears, Dorothy?" Emma asked, smirking when she noticed Henry laughing at the phrase so well-known from the famous movie. Both him and Emma had watched that movie only last week, only making their surprise at knowing the main character in the film was in fact real, only more surprising and surreal.
"I didn't know of Dorothy, but I've come across the Wicked Witch of the East of few times." She answered nonchalant, as if that confession was of no importance or shock. Emma rolled her eyes, not really finding it that surprising that her wife had met the evil witch, out of all characters, from the movie.
"What was she like?" Henry asked curiously as he turned to the slipper in his hand once more.
"A bore," Regina confirmed, making Emma openly laugh before she placed the slipper back onto the counter, Henry copying her. "The green skin and pointy hat were much too dramatic for my liking." Regina added before making her way further into the shop, one that she would rather not be in however. Emma scoffed quietly to herself, she had seen the images of her wife in Henry's book, green skin and pointy hats were too dramatic but tight fitting leather pants – which she would admit she'd love to see her in again – weren't?
"IS THAT EXCALIBUR?!" Henry almost yelled in Emma's ear, half deafening her in the process. She watched as her son ran over to where Regina was stood, inspecting a sword that was presented professionally in a glass container. Emma walked over to join them, not stopping to notice Henry's giddy expression and extremely fascinated eyes. "It's awesome!" Henry admitted as he moved to step directly in front of the glass container, Regina moving behind him to place her hands on his shoulders.
"Yeah kid, I'm sure Arthur thought the same too," Emma remarked, memory of Excalibur only reminded her of Lancelot back in Fairytale land, and she'd prefer not to remember that specific memory, seeming it was Regina's mother who had taken form of him.
After fifteen minutes of Henry asking question after question to Regina about Excalibur and Morgana Le Fay, seeming she had unsurprisingly met the evil witch briefly also - to which Emma rolled her eyes once more, learning that apparently her wife had her own evil witch gathering going by the increasing list of evil witches she had met - Henry had quietened down and continued to look around the store. When he had looked at everything around the store he moved to the counter where Belle was, as Gold was too busy trading objects over to other people, and smiled.
"Hey Belle, do you think I could look at the stuff in the back as well?" He asked oblivious to his mothers, who appeared too engaged in a little fight themselves over an umbrella Emma had found and proclaimed to be Mary Poppins', to which his brunette mother claimed ridiculous, hence the argument.
"I'm sure that will be fine Henry," Belle answered sweetly, a wide smile breaking its way across her face. "Just make sure your mothers know where you are," she added, knowing full well what would happen if he were to go somewhere without either of them knowing.
"Okay, thanks." He expressed his thanks and then sauntered over to his mothers, who still seemed to be in a full-on argument over the umbrella.
"So you're telling me that if I opened this, I wouldn't fly? Regina, there are wands over there that can turn people in frogs with one flick," Emma claimed as she held the umbrella in her grasp and watched Regina with a perplexed look and hand on her hip. Henry frowned, to him it did look like an ordinary umbrella, but then again so did that cake he nearly ate earlier, and that was by no means a cake. He took the umbrella from Emma's hold and put it back in the corner of the room, thinking it best to stop his parent's squabbling before it got any more intense, as per usual.
"Hey mom, Belle said I could look at the stuff in the back room." He told Regina, attempting to get her attention away from his other mother; who apparently deemed it appropriate to stick her tongue out at her. Regina sighed at her infuriating, childlike wife and turned to smile at her son.
"Let's take a look then." She replied before Henry smiled and grabbed both Emma and Regina's hands. "But Henry, do not touch anything." She warned him, feeling apprehensive of the thought of just what unsafe substances Gold kept back there.
After having entered the back room, Henry looked at himself through a large mirror that was centred in the middle of the room, that had quickly grabbed his attention. It had been covered by a blanket, but given Henry's exploratory and adventurous self, he unveiled it to meet this unusual mirror. Normally he would have shrugged his shoulders and continued searching for more items to find, but this particular mirror wasn't like normal ones.
"Emma, come look at this," he called over, not taking his eyes off the object. Emma put down the jar filled with eyeballs she was inspecting and walked up to the large mirror Henry was stood in front of.
"I'm a knight, look!" He acknowledged excitedly, pointing at his reflection while he turned his body to look at himself at different angles. Unlike normal mirrors which would show your reflection, this mirror showed his reflection as himself in full armour, chain mail and even a plumed helmet. A sword was held in his hand and a shield with an apple engraved into it- he was shown as a hero.
Emma turned to the mirror with a frown; it seemed average enough, probably twice the size of her, but normal none the less. The only abnormal thing being the unreadable writing that was written across the top of it. She looked for the so called 'knight' that Henry had mentioned and her frown deepened, there wasn't anything, no knight, just her and him.
"Kid, what are you talking about?" She asked, again looking up to the reflection to double check that he wasn't making it up. But nope, no such luck. Henry turned to Emma with furrowed eyebrows and pointed to the mirror.
"In the mirror, I'm a knight. See," he then busted his chest out as if to prove himself, "I've even got a sword!" Emma licked her lips while her brows knitted together as she looked at the mirror. Nothing. Maybe it was just Henry's vast imagination? Before she could tell her son that she couldn't see anything that he was describing, Regina walked up to them after having watched them both stare at the object for a while. She had watched as Henry attempted to flex his muscles adorably in the reflection and come to the conclusion they had found one of those hideous prank mirrors.
"Emm- Oh." Her eyes widened as she looked up at the mirror. However it was no ordinary mirror, it was an item that she thought she'd never have the privilege of ever seeing. A rare item she thought she would never be able to witness.
"Oh?" Both Henry and Emma repeated at the same time, looking from Regina to the mirror.
"This is no ordinary mirror," Regina commented as she touched the well varnished wood that held the object together. She found the mirror simply astonishing.
"Regina?" Emma asked, now more curious than ever about what was so special about the mirror. Regina cleared her throat.
"This is the Mirror of Erised." She proclaimed, speaking the name of the title like it was an expensive and rare finding, which in theory it was. Emma crossed her arms over her chest as she listened to Regina explain. "It's extremely rare, in fact I'm shocked Gold has this in his possessions it is that extraordinary. It is a mirror of old magic, older than I, you or even Gold possess."
"That old, huh?" Emma commented as she turned to the mirror. In all her life of knowing Regina, she had only ever seen her this surprised twice - the first time being the period she had broken the curse and saved Henry, and the other being the first time she had kissed her. The mirror must have been something special to have earned Regina's complete admiration like that.
"What does it do?" Henry's voice was a mere whisper as he continued to gaze at the mirror and the heroic figure reflecting from it. Regina smirked and took a step back. Emma turned to her with a puzzled expression which soon softened into a knowing grin when she watched Regina flick her wrist at the mirror.
Henry, Emma and Regina watched as the jumbled words, which had read 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' on top of the mirror, magically changed and altered into more familiar words.
"Woah," Henry breathed out as he read the new words his mother managed to convert. He bit his lip in concentration as he attempted to read the words that were still rather hard to read due to the type of writing they were engraved in. "I show not your face…" Henry read slowly and paused, trying hard to read the followed words, "but your heart's desire."
"What the hell does that mean?" Emma asked making Regina roll her eyes at her wife's use of words.
"I think it means that is shows you what you want most," Henry figured, still reading over the words repeatedly. Regina smiled proudly at her son's apparent intelligence and cleverness of things that were not even of this world.
"That's correct Henry," Regina praised him. "Erised is the word desire backwards. Those who look at their own reflection see what they desire most." Henry beamed at the mirror and fascinated over its magical properties. He then turned to his mothers, a thought sparking his interests.
"What can yo-" However, before he was able to finish his question, Belle bopped her head around the door, searching for the dysfunctional family.
"Henry," she called out while giving a friendly nod to the sheriff and mayor. "There's something in here that I think you'd like to see, want to come and have a look?" She put out her hand for him to take, an innocent smile etched across her face. Henry's eyes widened, the question he was going to ask completely forgotten, before he ran over to her eagerly.
"I'll be back in a sec," he yelled behind his shoulder as he was led to the front of the shop by Belle. After Emma shook her head and chuckled at her son's eagerness for new things, she turned back around to see her wife watching the mirror with a heart-warming smile. Curious as to what her wife saw, she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and kissed her cheek lovingly.
"So what can you see?" Emma whispered into her ear, grinning when she felt her wife's hands cover her own. "Or do I have to wait for you to say mirror, mirror on the wall?" Regina scoffed at her wife's usual teasing towards her Fairytale land counterpart.
"You, me and Henry." She answered quietly, afraid that if she spoke too loudly it would ruin the perfect image that she was watching in the reflection.
It melted her heart, watching them all together sat on the sofa while they watched Batman for the hundredth time. It was a scene that Regina could recall happening many times and yet it was seeing the familiar scene of watching both Emma and Henry arguing over which character was better, The Joker or Batman, which made her stomach flutter. They looked peaceful. They looked like a family. And that was her greatest desire.
She didn't need to turn around to know Emma was grinning at her like an idiot.
"What do you see?" Regina asked once she turned away from the mirror and looked over her shoulder to Emma who was leaning her head on top of her shoulder- still damning herself for telling Emma to wear those combat boots that made her two inches taller than herself.
"Actually, I don't see anything." Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned to the mirror with annoyance. "Just you and me, like it's a normal reflection." She would admit that she was rather bummed out by the turn of events; she wanted to know what she would see.
"Nothing?" Regina replied with a frown. The tone in her voice proved that she was just as perplexed by this news as Emma was. Emma being the saviour should not have prevented her from seeing her desires surely. Everybody had at least one desire. However, before Regina could comment further she felt Emma tighten her grasp around her stomach.
"Who cares?" Emma then said, turning Regina around to face her. "Maybe.." She then hooked her arms around Regina's waist bringing their fronts closer while Regina linked her arms across the back of Emma's neck; it went unnoticed to both how natural those reactions to another were, to be as close to each other as possible. "Maybe it doesn't show me mine because I already have everything I desire right here," and then moved her head closer, joining their lips together with tender care and affection. Emma smiled into the kiss, yes she most definitely had everything she wanted.
A/N - I hope you enjoyed the story! Reviews made me smile so much, and if you have any prompts for me then let me know!