Title: To Smile Again

Pairing: Regina/Emma

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Summary: For the first time in a long time, she smiled again.

Author's Note: Short One Shot i did to experiment with 2nd person narration. This is my first story in awhile so please let me know what you think. No beta, all mistakes are mine.

Regina Mills had never really been one to smile. A real, heartfelt smile hasn't been seen on her face since she was eighteen and she had begun to believe that she would never be happy enough to smile like that again. That was until she became Mayor of Storybrook and a certain blonde trouble maker happened to come into her life.

Emma Swan was a lot of things; defiant, strong, stubborn - all traits that infuriated her to no end. But she was also kind hearted. More than anyone Regina had ever met, more than herself when she was a young girl, more than Snow even, and that was something she admired.

Emma's life hasn't been easy, you can tell by the way she pushes people away and you guess that's mostly your fault. You separated her from her parents and sent her life spiralling in a different direction; A darker direction? You'll never know for sure but it weighs on you that the bad things she went through were partly your fault.

Still, from the moment she stepped into town you knew that she was different from anyone else you'd ever met. She stood up to you in a way no one else has. Strong willed but understanding, defiant yet aware. She infuriates you, but she interests you also and perhaps that's why you sought her out so often during her stay in your quite town.

You tell her that Henry is your son, and he is, but he's hers too. You try to get her to leave, but secretly you're a little glad that she stayed. Every moment she spends getting closer to Henry is a moment that she has to get closer to you too. And the closer she gets the more you realise that you don't want her to leave. She makes you smile… or smirk but even that's more than you're used to and a step in the direction that you'd like to take; So you stop pushing for her to leave, and she stays, and you smirk and maybe one day you think you could even smile a little sometimes.

She's fascinating, more than interesting, she's fascinating. You have no idea why but something compels you to get closer to her. You know the risk in this of course. She is the saviour, she will break your curse. This is something you know but with each passing minute in her presence, trading insults back and forth, sizing each other up… looking into her eyes to try and intimidate her - and it is to intimidate her - you remind yourself because every time you do it you can't help but move closer to her.

Invading each other's personal space is something that you've both become accustomed to it seems and vaguely you wonder if it's as hard for her to tear her gaze away as it is for you because over time, you look into her eyes and you feel yourself falling. Falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of blue you see before you and it's always a struggle to come back to reality because you're quite sure that given the chance, you'd like to stay there forever.

People notice of course. You and the sheriff have been spending a lot of time together and even though that's not unusual in and of itself. The lunches at Granny's and the walks in the park are and that is something people have been raising an eyebrow at. The fact that you have been walking around with a half smile and a certain twinkle to your eyes was probably what tipped them off to the shift in your relationship's dynamic. After all, the stoic, stern Mayor Mills smiling? Or trying to? Suspicious. Even to the people of this town. But at least they have the good grace or self preservation awareness not to mention it. Small mercies you suppose.

Emma has been coming over often lately. Henry thinks it's about him but as soon as he's asleep, she's in your study having a drink with you and talking about anything and everything she can think of. You think it must be cathartic for her. Telling you about her day and her life, knowing you listen but knowing that whatever she says to you won't be repeated. It's this trust that's formed that gets you to reciprocate. You start to tell her things too, nothing too deep, too personal yet but enough to get her to smile at you warmly and it's this that makes your stomach tingle unexpectedly and you find that it's not an entirely unpleasant feeling.

The days go on and you're getting closer to each other, emotionally and physically. Whenever you're in the same room as her, she automatically comes over to you and stands by your side. Always. She's so close that you can feel her body heat and strangely, a heat in your heart that you had given up on ever feeling again. It's this that gets you to put an arm around her and pull her even closer to you. You don't do anything else, just hold her close, looking into her eyes and it's such an intimate gesture. More personal than anything you've ever experienced before and the look in her eyes tells you you're on the same page. Your eyes light up with the realisation that you are finally getting your happy ending after all, just not the way you wanted it and yet so much better than you could have dreamed.

The curse broke. The curse broke and now you're all alone again. The coldness that came sweeping back into your heart after the mob tried to kill you had startled you, but it wasn't the mob that caused it. It was Emma. Emma who had looked at you so full of hurt. She had turned your heart back to the frigid barren wasteland that it once was and you've been crying ever since. How can you explain this to her? Would she even listen? You've holed yourself up in your house and watched the town through your windows ever since.

Your house is the biggest one in Storybrook and gives you the best view of the town. You've seen Henry smiling with his grandparents as David teaches him how to use a sword. You've seen Snow with the dwarfs and Ruby, looking every bit like a family. And you've seen Emma, alone and overwhelmed sitting in the far reaches of the park. Head in her hands crying for everything that she's lost that she can't tell anyone about. Crying over you and it makes your heart clench painfully because if there was one person that you didn't want to hurt with this curse it would be Emma.

She comes to see you eventually, you had hoped she would but you were sure that she would keep her distance. After all you're not Regina anymore. You're The Evil Queen again. At least that's what the town thinks of you. You know that they're wrong though. You'll never be The Evil Queen again, probably won't be The Mayor again either so at the end of the day, all you ever have been and all you ever will be is Regina.

Emma moves to your study and you pour her a drink automatically which she accepts. You sit down further away from her than you ever have before and she looks at you sadly. You give her space to think, you don't want her to leave but you don't want to pressure her in any way. You know that a relationship of any kind will be strained now that she knows who you were and the relationship that you wanted is now impossible. But it appears that once again you are wrong and that Emma still has the ability to surprise you. She moves closer to you, until she's by your side again, looks you in the eyes and in an instant you're falling again and you know that you'll do anything she asks of you, anything to make this easier on her. Anything at all for her.

She starts off quietly, saying these words directly from her heart and you feel every one of them. You're heart begins to warm again.

"Even after everything, I trust you. More than anyone else, I trust you. Don't ask me why, but there's something about you. Something… good? Something I like. Something i'm pulled to and something I can't stay away from. Something I don't want to stay away from. You… your life, is filled with darkness… mostly but, for some reason, you seem to light up mine. And that's something I never want to lose."

It's perfect and everything you've ever wanted to hear.

Emma gives you a small tentative smile and for the first time in a long while, you have hope for something better, for something good in your life, for something that will last. She leans in and kisses you and takes your breath away. You pull back to look at her, to make sure you're not dreaming, that you haven't gone insane after so many years of desperately wanting this feeling. What you see brings you back to your roots. You feel like your eighteen year old self again, so full of light and warmth and kindness.

She smiles at you and for the first time in what feels like forever, you smile too.