Emma lay down on her bed and rolled her head back, feeling positively exhausted. She'd just crawled through a portal between realms, even with Regina trying to kill her and Mary Margaret. Again. Emma wanted to believe Regina was trying to be a better person, but time and time again these little things came up that made her doubt the woman's intentions. There was another thought that was tugging at Emma's mind – the fact that the Queen of Hearts herself was unable to steal hers. Gold said it was magic, and that being the product of true love gave her those powers, but Emma wasn't ready to accept that she too was capable of being a sorceress. Emma's thoughts were broken when Mary Margaret poked her head into her room.
"Hey David and I are going out for dinner, you in?" Mary Margaret smiled that innocent, caring smile that warmed Emma's heart. She reluctantly got up, her body begging her to lie back down, and walked across the room.
"Sure, why not?"
The Charmings drove down to Granny's diner in relative silence, David still relieved to have his family back together. They pulled up to the restaurant and before David could even switch the engine off, there was a light but distinct tap on Emma's window. She unwillingly rolled down the window and sighed heavily.
"Here to finish the job your majesty?"
Pain flashed in Regina's eyes for a split second before regaining composure. "Very funny Miss Swan. Where's my son?"
Emma sat up straighter. "You mean my son?" Regina flinched, Henry was a touchy subject for both women. "He's sleeping over at a friend's house for the night. He didn't want to deal with family drama after witnessing a certain parent try to kill his birth mother. I suppose that would be traumatic huh?" Regina backed away from the car slightly.
"Can I have a word with you?"
Emma looked at her parents and silently told them "I can take care of myself" and stepped out of the car to face the former Mayor. Regina took Emma by the arm and lead her around the back of the diner where nosy onlookers couldn't hear their conversation.
"So I hear you can do magic?" Regina crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for the blonde to answer.
"I didn't do it on purpose, but it seems it seems to be the explanation for your lovely mother not being able to rip my heart out-" Emma paused. "How did you know I could use magic?"
"I know things Miss Swan, I thought we got past that. I know you're going to be tempted to try things, and I'd seriously advise against it. Magic is powerful, more powerful than you could believe and I don't know if it'd be best."
Emma raised her hand to cut off the woman. "I can handle myself thank you. And with all due respect Madame Mayor" she stepped into the woman's personal space, defiance ablaze in her eyes, "I'll do what I like."
Emma turned on her heel and walked into the diner, Regina's mouth agape as the figure receded. "She'll be back." Regina thought to herself.
Emma walked into the diner, and Mary Margaret jumped up to meet her. "What's the matter? You seem really annoyed. I swear I'm feeling annoyed." Mary Margaret turned to David who was sitting obliviously at the booth in the corner. "David why am I annoyed?!" She snapped.
David's eyes widened at his wife's sudden hostility and stammered out "I-why don't you tell me?" He tried his best to make his face look gentle and inviting, instead he looked confused and a bit scared. He'd never seen her act out like this, except for the time she took that potion to forget him. Mary Margaret guided Emma across the room, and when she sat down, David felt disdain rolling off of her like a tsunami.
David leaned towards his daughter. "Emma, what happened between you and Regina?" He lowered his voice a bit. "And your emotions do seem to be quite…" he searched for the right word "contagious. Is there something you're not telling us?"
David and Mary Margaret looked at Emma expectantly while she considered telling them the truth. She decided against it, as she didn't want them to think less of her. Emma crossed her arms insolently and snarled, "I don't want to talk about it."
Mary Margaret raised her hands defensively and backed away from her daughter. She mouthed the words "PMS" to David, and Emma lost it.
"Jesus Christ mom I'm not PMSing!" She said loud enough for the rest of the diner to fall quiet. "I'm just irritated alright?" David seemed to accept this before his eyebrows raised questioningly at Emma. "Yeah?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Emma…care to explain why you're glowing?" She looked down at her hands, which were indeed producing a golden glow.
"I-I don't…" Emma trailed off, turning her head towards Regina who was smirking at her triumphantly while stirring her coffee magically. After basking in the glory of being right, she subtly tilted her head, signaling Emma to meet her outside. Emma sighed again and excused herself from the table, the patrons of the diner eyeing the couple suspiciously. As soon as she was out of earshot, she turned towards Regina, stepping right up into her face.
"Why are you being nice to me?" Emma glared at the brunette menacingly.
"Maybe because you're not fulfilling your good girl role as of late?" Regina ran a hand through her hair, feeling the tension between the women grow. "Maybe because I like seeing you squirm?" Emma wasn't relenting, and Regina let out a shaky breath. "Maybe because I care about you, is that so hard to believe Miss Swan?"
Emma was taken aback by the woman's admission. "Okay so why am I glowing?"
Regina studied the blonde for a second before shrugging and saying "build up."
Emma scrunched up her face. "That sounds revolting."
"It's not. All it means is you have to find a way to release your energy."
Emma put her hands on her hips, annoyed again. "I thought you told me to stay away from magic."
"Indeed I did. But it seems you're more powerful than I thought. I know in the end you'll do what you like" Regina smiled her Evil Queen smile, sending shivers down Emma's spine "but if you don't you're going to keep glowing like a bug zapper. So enjoy that." Regina turned to leave when Emma stopped her.
"Regina wait." She turned back to Emma expectantly. "What do I do?"
Regina was suddenly quite puzzled. At this point it came naturally to her, and it felt like centuries since Rumple taught her. "Focus. Focus your energy into what you want to happen. Will it." Emma looked skeptical. "You know that movie Matilda? Like that. Focus and it'll happen. Picture magic leaving your body, the world bending to your need."
Emma closed her eyes and thought back to when she repelled Cora back in Fairytale Land. Regina saw the magic swirling around Emma, and quickly put up a shield with a wave of her hand, just in time for Emma's magic to explode out of her, a golden color brighter than the sun, which blasted a nearby building and set a couple surrounding trees on fire.
"Hmm, gold. How fitting." Regina said quietly amongst the chaos.
The blonde breathed a sigh of contented relief before she was able to take in the horror of what she'd done. People rushed out of the diner, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Mary Margaret was the one to break the silence.
"Regina what did you do?!" Regina was gearing up to take the fall when Emma turned to face her mother.
"It was me."
Mary Margaret got about 5 shades paler and stumbled backward into David's arms. "How?"
Emma shrugged indifferently "magic." Mary Margaret gasped, her eyes managing to grow in size again.
"Emma you can't do this! Do you want to end up like Regina?" she shrieked.
Emma, still coming off the magic high, pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself before speaking. "Regina's been more understanding than anyone else in this town. She knows how to fix me. I wouldn't mind ending up like Regina at all."
Regina smiled behind her. "Thank you Emma."
Emma turned around abruptly to face the brunette. "What'd you call me?"
Regina let out an amused sigh. "I called you Emma alright, now don't ruin it."
Granny sensed that the women wanted to be left alone, and started to usher people away. "Come on you folk nothing to see here." She turned to face Regina and mouthed, "fix the building."
Regina smiled and waved a hand to her left, the unnamed building returning upright and the giant crater disappearing. Some remaining stragglers were still shocked but Granny gave them a firm shove back into her diner.
"I can't do this Regina."
"What?" She sounded hurt.
"Magic. I can't do it."
Regina smiled again. "I beg to differ, it seems you can."
Emma started to pace quickly. "I can't keep blowing things up I'm going to kill someone! If you hadn't had the presence of mind to protect yourself you could've been hurt!" She threw her arms up in exasperation. "The worst part of it is" Emma inhaled sharply "I loved it. And I hate that. But I want to do it again." She took a step towards Regina. "And again." Another step. "And again." Emma was now right up against Regina, about an inch of room between the women. "It made me feel alive Regina. For once I felt like I had all the control. But I don't. And I'm scared okay?" Emma's face softened.
Regina wasn't sure how to deal with her sudden outpour of emotions. "I'm not going to say it'll be easy. There are days I want to burn this town to the ground, but I don't you know why?" Emma looked at her expectantly. "Because I learned to control it."
"How?"
"For one thing Miss Swan you don't let it consume you. Just do magic when it feels right, and you won't get that build up." She laughed. "By the way, you have a fierce temper."
"I know. Didn't you explicitly tell me not to do magic?"
"That's before you blew a crater in the ground and took down a building. That clearly isn't working for you, and we can't have the savior making things explode when she gets angry now can we?"
Realization hit Emma with the impact of a speeding train. "So that's why you were doing that little thing with your coffee wasn't it? To keep your magic under control?"
Regina nodded. "I'm not so lazy that I can't be bothered to pick up a spoon you know. I do everything for a reason, and congratulations you figured it out. Don't want to go blowing holes in the earth all the time."
Emma smirked "That's not a very evil queen thing to say."
It was now Regina's turn to step into Emma's personal space, the laughter falling from her face, replaced with a snarl. "Don't push me Miss Swan."
Emma lowered her eyes. "Sorry. And thanks."
"Oh? What for?"
"For helping me." Without realizing what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around the petite brunette and hugged her. Regina stiffened in her grip, then loosened and awkwardly returned the hug. Emma pulled back suddenly, her mind catching up to her actions.
"I..I am so sorry."
Regina smiled again. "It's fine; you'd know if it wasn't."
Emma turned to join her parents in the diner, feeling much better than she did a couple hours ago. "Oh and Miss Swan?"
Emma spun around to face Regina.
"Magic suits you."
Emma smiled at the woman before turning around once more, walking away with a bounce in her step.
A/N: This was my first fic for OUAT and my first attempt at a oneshot, reviews would be appreciated I'd love to get better :)