Being mayor of Small Town, USA or Time Warp, FTL as it were, didn't give to the luxury of much travel time. Regina had brought the science of The Land Without Color to the magic of Fairytale Land, ridden Riconante through the most feared, desolate sections of the Enchanted Forest, visited Neverland, Wonderland, and all that lay between. But in this world? In this world, she was a stranger, unfamiliar with the land and its diversities. She hadn't even been to Augusta, thanks to the nifty amnesia-effect of crossing town line. Emma - ever the nomad - had been shocked when she realized her fiancée's travel experience, or lack thereof.
"That's it. We're going on a road trip," she said one afternoon as they sat on opposite ends of the couch, reading.
The mayor arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow over her copy of Notes from the Underground, the words "not in this lifetime, dear" unspoken but loud and clear to her companion.
Her book long forgotten the blonde continued, "Come on - hear me out. You've only seen Storybrooke, and how else are you gonna see some more - a lot more - in a short period of time?" The brunette had no answer. "We can drive down through New York, stop in the City, and if we stick relatively near the coast we can go to the beach. Jersey has some nice ones, or there's always further south. We can stop in Tallahassee. I can show you what made me stay." She sent over an adoring smile as her leg reached out to nudge the other woman. "Why should we go overseas when you haven't even seen where you live?"
The mention of the blonde's former home seemed to unsettle the mayor, but she stayed on message, "The only time either of us could get off to manage that sort of trip is being saved for our honeymoon."
"Well…"
"Oh no. I am not going to be stuck in a car for my honeymoon. You're going to demand that we take that awful yellow thing, and I have no desire to find myself on the ten o'clock news – Honeymooners die in highway crash, friends say wife knew car wasn't safe," she mocked."And not to mention, we've been planning on a trip to Europe for weeks now."
"Which we haven't even remotely paid for yet, and we can take your car."
She held in an eye roll and the Miss Swan that would have come in the past, but gave the sheriff a stern look. "I have seen the inside of you car. I will not subject my car to that type of abuse."
The younger woman sighed, "Or we can walk?"
"Emma, I have no interest in spending my honeymoon in some godforsaken city that you admit you only stayed in to see if your ex-boyfriend would make an appearance."
She was quiet for a moment, not wanting to further upset her fiancée, by accident or on purpose. "I'm sorry. I meant," she visibly grasped for her words. It was difficult to speak when your foot was permanently lodged in your mouth, "show you around. You could meet the friends I had when I was there. Make new memories.
The mayor's expression softened.
"You should know better than to take anything I say at face value." She rubbed her face, exasperated but amused. "I think I say shit like that just to remind you what an ass you're marrying."
"And you're doing a fine job, darling." A soft smile. After a beat of silence, the older woman tapped the leg still resting against her own and said, "We can go.
Emma nearly jumped across the couch in excitement.
"But if you even think about taking me to that so called Magic Kingdom," she practically spit the words out, "I will have our marriage annulled so fast you won't even know what a Storybrooke is anymore, Sheriff."
Considering the empty threat for a brief moment as well as the smile she knew Regina was hiding, she smirked, "Noted. So that's a no on Magic Kingdom. How do you feel about Epcot?"
The mayor didn't dignify the question with a verbal response, as she rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but she knew that come next spring, she would find herself in a yellow bug, on her way to Walt Disney World if that was what Emma truly wanted.
