Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

Being told by her parents that her real birthday was Valentines Day had only given Emma 48 hours to find an excuse to avoid whatever surprise party they had planned. It wasn't her fault that after she had been found the foster agency thought she was a couple of days older than she was. There was probably even some kind of time difference between this world and the Enchanted Forest meaning that the day she had been celebrating was in fact her real birthday. Thankfully, Ruby's words came back to her and she was able to avoid upsetting her parents too much.

"I signed up for the speed dating event. Ruby's going and she invited me. Why don't we celebrate today, we could go out for a family meal together? I've always celebrated my birthday on the 12th anyway."

"We didn't realise." David told her, looking ready to accept her excuse.

Her mother was little more reluctant to give up. "It will be the first birthday we get to spend with you. I wanted to do something special."

"Well, it's not until 7pm, so we can still spend time together."

"Why don't we all take the day off work and go somewhere?" David suggested, diplomatically.

"Henry has to go to school and I have to teach."

"I'm sure they'll understand. Someone can cover for you. Why not have a mother-daughter day then? Just you and Emma. I'll speak to Belle." He gave Emma a pleading look, begging her to agree.

"I guess, if you don't mind covering for me at work." Emma told him.

Together they looked at Mary Margaret. Faced with both her husband and daughter she quickly gave in.

"So Ruby, what exactly is this Storybrooke speed dating thing?" Emma asked as she met her friend outside The Rabbit Hole. "And do I look okay?"

"No idea, and yes you look great! Blue put up a flyer in the diner window but I forgot to ask. We'll probably just sit at little tables and be rotated round to give us a chance to meet other people."

"Promise you'll sit next to me?"

"Of course. We'll need a signal if we need help or an excuse to run away."

Emma laughed. "I'm sure your werewolf hearing will come in handy for that. My codeword can be, um… horses."

"Really?"

"Well I'm not going to use it by accident but I can fit it into a sentence easily – I don't like horses, or I've never ridden a horse. You?"

Ruby took a second to think. "Burger… no, ketchup. I can tell them I really like it or something."

"Time to go in." Emma looked at the doors. "After you."

The bar was busy. Emma followed Ruby through the crowds to a small table where Blue was seated behind two stacks of forms.

"We're here!" Ruby told her.

Blue looked up. "Ruby? Do you need a form?"

"No, I signed up last week, remember?"

Quickly flicking through some of the papers, Blue located one. "Right, now I just need you to put on this yellow sticker and head into the room with the yellow sign on the door. Everyone has been into groups. We've had more interest than expected."

"Sure. Emma'll need a yellow sticker too."

Blue looked up. "Emma, right." She took another look for Emma's form. "You're in green."

"Can't we both be yellow?"

"We've sorted by age and interests. I'm afraid that's put you in different rooms."

"But I didn't fill out a form with my interests." Emma told her.

"That would be my fault." Ruby confessed. "I filled it out for you, back when you weren't sure if you wanted to come. I just thought it'd save time when you finally gave in."

"What did you put?"

"Ladies, we don't have time for this." Blue interrupted them. "In five more minutes the rooms will be closed to new-comers. I suggest you decide if you want to stay or not."

"We're staying." Ruby told her, pulling Emma away.

Once they were out of sight of the fairy, she pulled off her sticker. "Don't worry, I'm coming with you."

"Uh, Ruby…"

"Like anyone's going to check…"

"Okay."

Ruby opened the door with the green sticker and ushered Emma inside. The room was a quarter the size of the main bar area, but not too crowded with a dozen people inside. Emma recognised most of the faces, which included Dr. Whale. Ruby quickly led her away, muttering something about Mary Margaret. There were large red hearts cut out of paper hanging from the ceiling and stuck on the walls around the room. Soft music was playing, though Emma couldn't name the tune.

"Time to start mingling." Ruby whispered, her eye catching someone else's across the room.

"Wait…"

Emma was too late. Ruby had already gone. She turned in a slow circle, hoping to see some other friendly faces but most of the people in the room had their backs to her as they conversed with someone else. The bar stood out at one side so she headed over and took a seat on one of the barstools before realising exactly who she was sitting down next to.

As Regina turned to see who had come to join her, Emma's eyes were drawn to the low cut dress hugging the mayor's well-proportioned curves. "Wow, you look…"

"And I see you made an effort too." Regina replied, without waiting for Emma to finish her sentence.

"What are you doing here? I mean, obviously you're here to find a date, but…"

"I promised Daniel."

"Daniel? You mean…"

"When Whale temporarily resurrected him. He said he wanted me to find love again, so here I am. I should have known fairies couldn't be trusted to organise something like this. It's not like they can fall in love."

Emma couldn't believe that Regina was actually opening up to her like this. How much had she had to drink already? Then her mind registered the fact that she'd been put in the same room as the Mayor, suggesting that they had something in common. She hoped it wasn't just an age and job thing.

Feeling brave, she tried to continue the conversation. "Have you actually tried talking to anyone?"

"I haven't seen anyone I'd care to talk to."

"Well, we're talking…"

"Because you sat next to me. I assumed you would order a drink and be on your way soon enough."

Emma smiled. "What about Whale? He's a doctor, isn't he your type?"

Regina's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're in the right room? I would have hoped the fairies set some kind of standard in here."

"Look, green sticker." Emma held it out so she could see it. "Maybe we should change the conversation. Wanna talk about Henry?"

She caught the change in Regina's expression, though the other woman tried to hide it and knew she'd won.