Title: A Christmas Redemption
Pairing: Emma Swan / Regina Mills
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and make no profit of them.
Rating: T for some language and suggestive themes.
Summary: Christmas is coming and Emma wants to spend it with her family. Her whole family. But being with your loved ones when one of them is a former Evil Queen can prove a little difficult to accomplish.
AN: I'm interested in knowing if people are satisfied with the way I write, since English is not my native language. Reviews are appreciated as I don't know if people think it's worth continuing or not, and if someone wants to beta, that's also of interest.
Emma Swan is nervous. There's no point denying it as she shifts her weight restlessly from one leg to the other, waiting for the door in front of her to open. She has no idea what will happen once it does, no plans of what to say or how to convey what she is thinking. She knows it's going to be uncomfortable at best and haven't the faintest idea how her wishes will be conceived by the other party.
Shit, what was she doing? This was gonna be a disaster, she just knew it.
She hears faint movement and then the door is being unlocked and opened cautiously. Her heart speeds up in anxiousness even as her lips curve into what she hopes will be a smile. She can't really be sure since she feels like she could be sick any moment.
"Miss Swan?" is uttered in fake surprise, and the blonde rolls her eyes exasperatedly as she moves over the threshold, forcing the other woman to take a step back.
She carelessly kicks the door shut, her plans temporarily forgotten, as she grabs hold of the open suit lapels of the brunette standing in front of her and tugs. As their bodies meet with a soft thud, her pinkish lips find red ones and mash together hungrily. Hands move to tangle in her blonde tresses and tugs delicately as tongues move teasingly against each other. She lets out a content sigh as teeth nips playfully at her probing tongue and make sure to drag her own teeth along the enticing bottom lip of the other woman as she pulls slowly away. Their eyes open lazily to lock together and twin grins appear unbidden, as they stay close together, their noses barely grazing the other's.
"Hi" Emma whispers, still grinning at the other woman who instead of a verbal response, gently nudges the blonde's nose with her own and pecks her lips. This loving, intimate gesture makes the sheriff's heart swell and she initiates a new round of hot, wet kissing.
"What are you doing here?" the brunette asks innocently when they break apart, and suddenly the anxiousness is back as Emma remembers what she has come there to ask. The other woman seems to notice the shift at once, her brows furrowing slightly in trepidation as she takes a step back and folds her arms around her midsection as if to shield herself, causing the blonde's hands that is still clutching the suit jacket to fall limply to their owner's side.
"Regina-" the sheriff starts softly, her hand moving to grasp the other woman's, only to be pushed away.
"Tell me!" It's said as a command, and the gentleness present in the woman only seconds before has vanished without a trace. The woman poised before Emma now is cold, expressionless and fierce.
Fuck. She hasn't even started yet and it's all going to hell.
"It's nothing bad," she says quickly, her own brows furrowing in uncertainty. "At least I don't think it is, I mean-I'm not sure-It's more of a-" with a frustrated sigh, the blonde stops trying to get her mouth to cooperate, her right hand moving to nervously scratch at the hair in her neck.
"Can we, uh, sit down?" The former mayor just stares hard at her, making no move to comply, and Emma has to fight the urge to shrink away from the gaze.
"It's nothing bad," she repeats as she starts moving towards the living room, making sure to brush gently against the stoic woman as she passes her.
The blonde has barely made herself as comfortable as she can manage on the sofa, considering her nerves, when Regina strides past and sits down opposite her. The mayor's arms fold carefully in her lap, as if she's perfectly at ease, but the blonde can see the rigidity of the other woman's back, the way her lips are drawn together firmly and knows it's just a façade, a way to lull her into a false pretense of security and peace.
They're too far away from each other Emma decides. If she's going to do this, she needs to appease the other woman's always present skepticism. And the only way she knows how to do that is by using touch and putting herself in the same vulnerable and uncomfortable position she knows Regina often feels, even though the brunette tries her damnedest to hide it. With a deep breath, the sheriff moves from the couch and props herself down on the table so her knees are brushing against the other woman's. She ignores the displeased glare sent her way and instead squares her shoulders, as if preparing for a fight.
"So…it's Christmas soon," she starts lamely, barely refraining from rolling her eyes at herself. Yeah, that would probably explain everything she wanted to the mayor.
The other woman merely raises her eyebrows ever so slightly. "I'm well aware of that, Miss Swan," is the terse reply, the brunette's expression as unreadable and emotionless as Emma has ever seen it.
"Snow wants to have this whole reunited family Christmas thing-"
"And naturally you want to take Henry," Regina cuts in, her eyes flashing with anger and hurt, making Emma feel like she should slap herself.
Why in the hell had she mentioned Snow? The two women despise each other. She hadn't even begun to explain yet and already she was messing things up.
"NO," Emma blurts out in near panic. "I mean, yes, but that's not what I wanted to-"
"Never mind dear, I should have seen it coming," the brunette interrupts yet again, making a move as if to stand and Emma almost launches herself at the other woman as she grasps her right hand firmly to keep her from running away.
"Damn it, Regina! Will you stop for two seconds so I can get my thoughts straight and actually try to explain what I'm here for?" the blonde spits out in clear frustration.
She starts as the brunette actually sits back down, having expected the other woman to resist. Emma can see a faint expression of curiosity on the former mayor's features and realize she must have looked rather desperate and confused for the woman to actually listen to her.
Well, here goes nothing.
"I came here to talk about what we were going to do for Christmas," she begins slowly, watching the brunette's expression carefully.
"We? What we?" Regina asks in genuine confusion.
"You know… you, me and Henry" the blonde replies a little feebly, her heart hammering in her chest, and she is pretty sure she has started to cold sweat.
"I-what?!" Emma can almost see the wheels turning in the mayor's head and shrugs helplessly.
"I just thought it would be…nice, you know…to spend Christmas…together?" she squeaks out.
Shit, why had she said anything? This was a disaster. Any moment now, Regina was going to start laughing at her for suggesting something so stupid.
"You want us to celebrate Christmas together?" the brunette asks, and the sheriff thinks she can detect a hint of hopefulness in her voice.
She's in half a mind to deny it and brush it up as a temporal lapse in sanity. She feels far too exposed under the brunette's scrutiny and she's fighting hard against her body's fight-or-flight reflex.
"I do," she manages to press out instead, hoping it sounds much more confident than she feels. And it's like the woman in front of her deflates, sinking deeper into the sofa as she seems to finally relax.
"So you want you, me and Henry to celebrate Christmas together?" the brunette asks, seeking confirmation.
"Actually, Snow was very adamant about wanting the whole family to spend Christmas together," Emma replies and it's almost comical the way Regina's eyes widen in slight panic.
"Are you out of your mind? Snow wouldn't let me anywhere near her family." And the relaxing pose on the couch is gone, replaced with the familiar rigidity that shows how displeased she is with whatever is happening.
"You don't know that," the blonde replies quickly, feeling that she should at least try to defend her former roommate, turned mother, who she knows can be just as stubborn and overly dramatic as the woman sitting in front of her.
"Have you even told her that you're asking me to celebrate Christmas with you?" Regina asks skeptically, her eyes hard and lips turned into a sort of scowl.
"I…Well I figured you'd actually have to agree before I asked her since I feel she'll be easier to persuade than you," the blonde replies sheepishly.
"No, absolutely not. She'd kill me and things are ok right now. Can't you and Henry just stay here with me?" It's said so hopefully and innocently that Emma's first instinct is to agree. But that's the whole point of it, she realizes. To get her to give in and let Regina have her way. No, that won't do. She has to stay strong and stand firm. She didn't come here to make things as easy and convenient as possible for the brunette.
"How about a compromise? You come with me this year and then we can do the whole 'just you, me and Henry' thing next year?"
"That's mighty presumptuous of you Miss Swan. There's no guarantee there is a 'you, me and Henry' in a year."
Had anyone else said it, Emma would have been offended and hurt. But she knows the brunette doesn't mean it as a stab or a threat. It's just a vocalization of a very real possibility. For all they know they could be dead in a year, with Rumpel out there planning who knows what, and Cora trying to get back so she can get revenge on her daughter or whatever the hell she wants.
"Maybe it's just the Christmas spirit affecting me, but I have faith that we'll manage," she answers with an innocent shrug of her shoulders. The other woman huffs and rolls her eyes.
"Why can't we do the whole family Christmas next year and just us this year instead?"
Emma refrains from rolling her own eyes at the stubborn woman she cares so much about. No matter what, Regina always tries to change things around so she can get her way first. It's a habit the sheriff is trying patiently to coax out of the other woman.
But private Regina and public Regina, she has learned, is two entirely different things.
In private, Emma can get the brunette to surrender to a lot of things with teasing kisses, intimate touches and whispered promises. But in public, the former mayor won't allow anyone to witness anything that can be interpreted as her acquiescing to anything.
So Emma just gives Regina a knowing smirk and moves to straddle the other woman, forcing her to settle deeper into the sofa, her arms rising to rest comfortably around the other woman's neck.
"Because," she starts as she presses a soft kiss against the brunette's nose, that wrinkles slightly at the display of affection.
"You can't always get what you want" A kiss is placed against a jaw line as Regina grunts in disagreement.
"And you want me to be happy." Another kiss against the column of a throat and an indignant huff from the brunette.
"And you want Henry to be happy" Yet another kiss, this time just below an ear as a released breath of agreement comes from the other woman.
"And because I'll make it worth your while," she finishes as she locks eyes briefly with the brunette before she leans in to peck the delectable lips in front of her. The woman beneath her sighs and Emma knows she's going to get her way even though Regina is going to complain about it.
"But it's going to be awkward and uncomfortable," the brunette says as her bottom lip protrudes slightly in an unmistakable pout.
"I know," she responds as she takes the pouting lip between her own and sucks gently.
"And the Charmings don't like me," Regina continues when her lip is released.
"Mhmm," Emma confirms as this time the brunette leans forward to instigate a kiss.
"Snow is never going to allow it," the former mayor presses on and the sheriff feels it's high time to end this one sided complaining so they can find more rewarding exercises for their mouths.
So she locks eyes with the other woman and speaks with a firmness that leaves no uncertainty that they are done talking about it for the time being.
"She will allow it and you will endure it because it's Christmas, and Christmas should be spent with family. You're both going to cut the snarky remarks and send fake smiles to each other because it's what will make everyone else happy. And you'll be drinking just enough wine to forget your equal distrust of each other and enjoy the warmth and intimacy and contentment of celebrating Christmas with the ones you love."
"And when everyone else has exhausted themselves and gone to bed, we're gonna sneak out and have our own celebration, which involves lots of nakedness," Emma adds, almost as an afterthought. And she smirks at the rich, delighted laughter the former mayor releases and she knows the other woman expected that last statement.
"Ok," the brunette replies evenly when the laughter dies down.
"Ok." And if Regina notices the surprise in Emma's reply and the visible relaxation of her shoulders, she chooses to ignore it.
"How about a preview of things to come then," she says instead, and this time it's the sheriff's laughter that fills the room. She knows there will be more bitching and moaning and empty threats later, but it will be so worth it in the end.
"I think that's only fair," Emma confirms as she meets the other woman's lips halfway in a kiss that leaves them both slightly breathless.
