A/N: This is loosely based on the Jimmy Wayne song "Elephant Ears" which I don't own. I also do not own Emma and Regina if I did we all know what would be cannon and also they would have a permanent residence in my how, wait, what? or anything else resembling Once Upon a Time. Also this is AU because there's no curse and I may have taken a little leeway with Emma's parentage, but just a little. That said onto the story :)
They had been together just over six months the first time Emma stayed the night at Regina's. Emma smiled as she wrapped an arm around the brunette and buried her nose in the older woman's dark locks. She kissed the back of Regina's neck and whispered softly, "Elephant ears," against Regina's skin. The brunette heard the odd words that left her girlfriend's lips but instead of questioning her she snuggled back against the blonde and let Emma's even breathing lull her into a peaceful sleep, the first she'd had in many years.
A few weeks later the two of them were coming back from a date and Emma walked the brunette to the door. Leaning in to steal a goodnight kiss she smiled as she pulled back and whispered softly, "Elephant ears," once more. Regina studied the blonde for a moment but could tell that she wouldn't get an answer if she asked so instead she leaned in to steal another kiss.
It took another six months, six months full of Emma whispering the words, "Elephant ears," at the most random of times before Regina finally asked what they meant. The two of them were curled in bed together. Regina's head resting on Emma's chest as they simply enjoyed the other's company. Emma leaned down, pressing her lips to Regina's head, quietly whispering, "Elephant ears," once more.
Regina shifted against Emma, looking up to the blonde, "What does that mean?" she questioned quietly. "You say elephant ears to me all the time but I don't know what it means," she said, "or how to respond."
Emma chuckled a bit, "I have to tell you a story for you to completely understand," she said. She wrapped her arms more securely around Regina, "When I was nine years old," she said, "I met the people that I call my mom and dad."
Regina glanced up to Emma, "David and Mary Margaret adopted you?"
The blonde above her nodded, "I had been in foster care all my life, from the day I was born until my ninth birthday. When I was brought to Mom and Dad," she said, "I had a backpack on my back with maybe four sets of clothes, a broken arm from my previous foster home, and a little stuffed elephant that was with me when I was left on the side of the road." Emma lifted up her head, reaching to her nightstand for her phone and pulling up a picture, "That's me and Ellie just after Mom and Dad took me in." She handed the phone to Regina and watched the brunette, "I had never had somewhere to belong, somewhere to call home. Most of my life was full of group homes and people who kept me to get money. Mom and Dad," she said with a slight smile, "they were different though and I knew it. I grew to love them." She took the phone back from Regina, tracing the picture of her younger self, "I couldn't tell them though," she said, "I didn't know how to tell them that I loved them. Until them I didn't even know what love felt like." She felt a tear run down her cheek, "They understood though," she said, "I don't know how but they understood before I could say it that I loved them."
Regina reached up then and wiped away Emma's tears, "Your eyes," she said, "your eyes give you away."
Emma made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a cry, "One night when they were tucking me in," she continued, "Dad picked Ellie up to hand her to me and he smiled. 'Elephant ears,' he said while he flicked one of Ellie's ears, 'that'll be our code word,' he told me, 'all you have to tell us when you want to say it,' and I knew just what he meant, 'all you have to say is elephant ears and Mary Margaret and I,' I hadn't started calling them Mom and Dad yet, 'we'll know.'" Emma looked down, meeting Regina's eyes, "To this day I still have problems telling people that I love them," she said, her eyes still locked with Regina's, "but when I want them to know," she said, "when I want them to know I love them I say elephant ears."
Tears trailed down Regina's cheeks and she leaned up, letting her lips find Emma's in a tender kiss. As she pulled back she pressed her forehead against Emma's and whispered quietly, "Elephant ears."