Another party at Granny's. Another chance for the Charmings and the rest of the rabble to drink and pat themselves on the back for being- well, heroes. The thought of it had made me roll my eyes when Henry first brought it up. 'Come on, Mom.' He had said, 'It'll be fun! Everyone's expecting you to be there.' I couldn't tell if that last bit was a lie, but I've never been good with denying my child something he wants. So, here I sit amongst people who just over thirty years ago would have stopped at nothing to put my head on a spike. But Henry's happy, as he and Emma dance around horribly on the makeshift dance floor in the centre of the room, and that's all that matters to me.

Seeing the two of them always makes me smile, I think as I take another sip of my third glass of red wine. I don't know when it happened, but I've actually found myself enjoying the friendship that Emma and I seem to have fallen in to. Though its not always easy, especially because she is too much like her father and sometimes I want to slap that 'charming' grin off her face, it's nice to know that in all the realms there is another person who is truly there for me. If for no other reasons than the fact that we understand each other and share a son. 'Two sides of the same coin,' I believe she had said to me once. Though I wouldn't have put it quite that way myself, I couldn't help but agree.

'You should dance with them, Regina.' Snow says as she sits down on the vacant barstool next to me, baby Neal attached to her hip.

'And why would I do that?' I ask, rolling my eyes in her direction.

'One, because that's the mother of your child and your son over there.' She states plainly. 'And two, I know how much you used to love to dance. I'm sure Emma would be impressed.'

I laugh at that one. 'First of all, what your daughter is doing could hardly be classified as dancing.' I say as I motion towards where Emma is attempting to dance but more just spinning Henry around in circles. 'And I would hate to interrupt their moment.'

'Look at the way she's looking at you.' Snow points out. I look at the floor. Already too aware of how the aforementioned Miss Swan has been staring at me, I decide to avoid it all together. 'Honestly Regina, they want you there with them.'

'Yes, thank you for your input.' I say and turn towards the bar, effectively blocking out Snow, as well as, Emma.

Snow sighs dramatically and walks away, leaving me alone again with my wine. I take a calming breath and close my eyes for a second, before taking a long sip of the deep red liquid. That's when I hear an ungraceful thump next to me. With a raised eyebrow, I turn to find Emma sprawled on the stool with her back against the counter. 'Hey.' She smiles.

'Hey?' I respond with a raised eyebrow, taking in the blonde beside me. She's actually in a dress tonight for the party. The dress is a dark green like her eyes, tight with three quarter sleeves and is, surprisingly, backless, which I didn't expect.

'Having a good time?' She asks and takes a long gulp of the beer that has just been placed on the bar beside her. She wipes the foam from her mouth with the back of her hand before turning to smile at me. The action that four years ago would have made me cringe, now has the almost adverse effect. Not that I would admit that to anyone, especially not Emma.

Emma crosses her legs in front of her and I realise her shoes are no longer the black patent leather pumps she was wearing before. Instead, they have been replaced by a pair of beat up Chuck Taylor's covered in writing and mud. 'What happened to your shoes?' I ask her.

Emma seems to have forgotten that she changed her shoes because she looks down at the plimsoles and laughs. 'Oh yeah. Ha. The heels were hurting my feet so I went out to my car and found these under the seat.' She kicks her legs out in front of her and fondly gazes at the aforementioned shoes.

'And did you pull them directly out of the garbage?' I ask with a smirk before taking a long sip of my wine. Emma turns back to me with a pout on her face that very much makes her look like a golden retriever, but she smiles back when she realises I was joking. She looks as if she's about to say something to me, but then just as soon as the look crosses her face, she stands and extends her hand to me. 'What?' I ask, ignoring the fact that my pulse has sped up quite a bit.

'Dance with me.' Emma says plainly.

'You've got to be joking.' I laugh.

'Oh come off it, Regina.' Emma says with a kind smile. 'Dance with me.' And then, she reaches for my hand and, before I can stop her, she's pulled me off my stool and is leading me towards the middle of the room that has become the makeshift dance floor.

'Emma!' I hiss at her, but there seems to be no way to stop her as she keeps pulling me towards the centre of the room. The crowds part slightly for us and I lower my head to avoid eye contact with a particular dwarf, whose name may or may not be Grumpy, who is looking at me with utter disdain. You'd think these people would stop hating me after all this time.

However, all thoughts escaped my head when Emma's strong arms come to wrap around my body. Her left arm settles around my waist and her right grabs my left hand. 'Emma, seriously, this is—' I begin.

'Shut up and dance with me.' She smiles back, green eyes shining straight into mine. She begins to twirl us around the floor. It's clear she has no amount of formal training in dancing, but she's good at leading and for a moment I let myself revel in her touch, but catching eyes with said dwarf again, my resolve to get out of here strengthens.

'I can't do this. These people—' I begin, but Emma cuts me off by twirling me out and under her arm then pulling me back to her, much closer this time to where our chests are touching and my hand is now curled against her chest. It's intimate and I hope to the gods that she can't feel how wildly my heart is beating.

'Don't look at them, Regina.' Emma says in an almost whisper. 'Just keep your eyes on me.'

That's when I see it. That little spark in her eyes, that something that I've been ignoring for the better part of four years. It's like a longing. An ache deep inside, that I'm pretty sure mirrors my own. In that moment I allowed myself to feel what I had been surprising for so long. This woman. This woman who currently has her strong arms wrapped around me as she glides us effortlessly across the floor is my destiny. What I felt for Daniel, for anyone really, pales in comparison to what I feel for Emma. In her eyes, I can see the future. Our future. Our family. A chance at the happiness I thought long ago had eluded me.

'Emma—' I begin, but I am silenced by her lips on mine. I can hear a gasp from the onlookers gathered around us, but nothing matters as much as the fact that Emma Swan is kissing me. Emma Swan who has given me so much is kissing me. I wrap my arms around her neck and pull her closer to me, deepening the kiss and halting our movements. I can feel her smile against my lips and it's all I can do not to jump out of my skin with the joy I feel in this moment.

It's only when I hear someone clear their throat next to us, that I pull back from Emma. She is looking straight at me, her green eyes shining with the biggest smile on her face. 'Uh, moms.' Henry says from beside us. 'Not that I'm not happy for you or anything, but can you not make out on the dance floor. There are some things that therapy can't even get rid of.'

I laugh and Emma does too and it's the most wonderful sound in the world. 'Come here, kid.' She says and pulls our son into us. She gives me another twirl before doing the same with Henry. As I turn around I make eye contact with Snow and where I had expected to see some sort of anger, all I see is happiness and my heart settles a bit more. And as I dance there with the two people I love most in the world I remember what my mother had taught me, that love is weakness. But in this moment, I know she's wrong. Love isn't weakness. It's strength.