Warning before reading:

This story contains mature themes; such as minor sexual content, homosexuality, and (depending on how you take it) minor incest.
If you don't like, then take a hike. Please. It's for your own good.

The Swan and the Snow

Chapter 1

Emma lay in her bed, staring at the darkness that surrounded her. She couldn't sleep. There were too many thoughts swirling around in her head. More than usual. Way more than what Emma needed.

She felt cold under the covers and drew the blankets closer while letting out a sigh of frustration. She didn't even feel tired. Emma glanced at her alarm clock to see that it was only 2:46 am, hours before she had to get up for work. Yet if she kept this up, Emma would not have enough time to get a decent rest before she had to get up and going anyway. It isn't fair. Emma thought. Dealing with all the strange yet now unsurprising things that happened around Storybrooke was enough trouble with proper sleep, let alone none. And these sleepless night just weren't ending. Some nights she got three, maybe four hours of sleep if she was lucky, and others she got none. And so far, things weren't looking very promising that night for the sheriff.

Emma couldn't stand laying in her bed anymore. So she got up and walked over to her window. Emma leaned on the window pain as she watched the frozen, white flakes gracefully drifted to the ground, millions of them partially blocking her view of the Christmas lights that hung joyfully from peoples houses. It was getting close to that time of year again, very close. The people of Storybrooke seemed less stressed nowadays, since they were more focused on the Christmas season instead of Regina and Mr. Gold's suspicious and troublesome behaviours. There was no time to be concerned about that, because everyone was preparing for one of the most joyous holidays of the year. Well, everyone except for Emma.

Since the sheriff's office hadn't been that busy lately, Emma had given herself the gruelling task of reorganizing all the files and document that had accumulated over the last year. They needed to be put into storage to make room for the new files that the upcoming year would bring. And with the way Regina, Mr. Gold, and Emma had been battling as of late, she knew she'd need to make a lot more space in the filing cabinet, for sure.

Emma had just finished the "H" files and was going to take another sip of her heavily caffeinated coffee, when she heard foot steps coming towards her desk, of which she was awkwardly slumped over with one arm in mid stretch towards the coffee cup. I probably look like I'm dying. Emma thought to herself. She hoped to God it wasn't Regina. That was the last thing she wanted to deal with in her overtired state.

As Emma cautiously looked up from her desk she let out a sigh of relief. It was Mary Margaret. Emma slumped back into her chair, smiling for the first time that day. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Well, I'm on my prep period so I thought I'd come by to see you," Mary Margaret explained, then she lowered her head and looked to the side adding, "since you left for work before I had the chance to say good morning to you..." her voice trailed off as she glanced back and forth from Emma to the floor.

Emma felt her face warm up a bit out of embarrassment. She hadn't meant to hurt her friend's feelings. It was just she had felt annoyed and anti-social that morning from not getting any sleep. So she left before Mary Margaret had even gotten up. "Sorry... I..." Emma started, but Mary cut her off. "It's alright, you don't need to explain."

There was an awkward silence which followed, that seemed to be never ending. Then suddenly Mary Margaret said, "The school received an anonymous donation of wreathes yesterday, a whole ton of them. So this morning I let the kids decorate one each. They were so happy," Emma noticed then that the teacher had her hands behind her back. Mary Margaret paused, attempting to form an impressive sentence to explain what was to come next, but got frustrated, lightly shook her head and just blurted out, "So I made one too, for you," as she presented the wreath she had made to Emma. "I mean for your office," She added as she awkwardly handed Emma the festive decoration.

The wreath had a big, red bow tied to the bottom, with fake holly glue gunned and silver tinsel wrapped all around the rim. Nothing fancy. But Emma couldn't believe Mary Margaret had actually made it for her. "Thanks," she said, walking over to the wall, spotting a random nail sticking out, and hanging it there. It looked kind of funny since it was the only Christmas decoration in the room, but it seemed to have brought it's own Christmas feeling in along with it.

"You're welcome, I guess I better get back to the school," Mary Margaret said. Emma felt a little bummed to hear that. She was no longer feeling anti-social. She wanted company more than ever. "Oh... alright, how about we hang out tonight, go to the diner for a bit then maybe watch some TV?" Emma suggested. Mary Margaret's face lit right up. "Sounds like a date!"

Then Mary scurried out of her office, waving back to Emma as she left. Emma couldn't help but feel a little quiver in her chest and stomach as she heard Mary Margaret's voice in her head say those final words of her visit over and over again. Then she laughed to herself, finding her behaviour ridiculous, and got back to working on the filing.

The bell rang.

"Bye everyone, see you next week!" Mary Margaret Blanchard cheerfully shouted to her students as they jumped from their chairs, grabbed their coats and bags, and hurried out the classroom door as fast as they could. So it would seem. Well, all except for Henry Mills.

The boy was taking his time packing up his belongings and placing them neatly into his backpack. He had always seemed quite mature for his age, yet he was still a child who believed in fantasies. Mary Margaret thought to herself. She had given Henry the book of fairytales, hoping it would provide an escape from the hard life that he endured living as the adopted son of Regina Mills, the town Mayor. But not only did Henry love the book, he believed every word of it. He believed his teacher, Ms. Blanchard was Snow White, that David Nolan was Prince Charming, and that his adopted mother was the Evil Queen. He believed that everyone in Storybrooke was under a curse, one that took them all from the fairytale world and trapped them in a world with no magic, and having forgotten who they were. But as Mary Margaret watched Henry pack his things, she wanted to believe him because she wanted the boy to be happy.

"Ms. Blanchard?" Mary Margaret was drawn from deep thought as the boy approached her with a question. "Yes Henry?"

"Can you tell my real mom that I miss her and I want to see her?"

Henry was referring to Emma. She was Henry's biological mother. But not long after Emma had been brought to Storybrooke, Regina had forbidden that Emma see Henry. That was just how Regina worked, always thinking of herself.

Mary Margaret bent down to Henry and put a hand on his shoulder."I'm sure Emma misses you too, but you're mom doesn't want you to see her. She'll punish you and make things tough for Emma if you too are together." She explained.

"I know that, but...," Henry looked more sad then ever. If only Regina could see what she's doing to Henry. Ms. Blanchard thought. Then she said with a smile, "I'll tell her."

"Thanks!" Henry said. Then he hurried out of the classroom with a hopeful smile on his face. Maybe, he hoped, he could be with his real mom for Christmas.

Mary Margaret wrapped her scarf around her neck, burying her face in the fabric to hide it from the terrible chill in the air. She had forgotten her mittens that morning, so instead of crossing her arms over her chest too keep them warm, she had her hands tucked safely in the pockets of her coat as she walked briskly down the side walk. She was heading for Granny's Diner, which was where she would be meeting Emma for dinner. But she was going to be extremely early. Thankfully she had a book in her purse to help pass the time. Then a thought struck Mary Margaret that made her more nervous than the thought of having dinner with Emma that evening. She hoped to God that she wouldn't run into David there.

Emma was being a bit over dramatic. She kept thinking of excuses for why she needed to keep working and to cancel on Mary Margaret. She, for some reason, suddenly wanted to avoid her, work late, go home and crawl into bed after Mary had already gone to sleep. Why was she so nervous? She thought. Maybe it was from being over tired. Maybe she was going crazy. Maybe it was something more than that... No, Emma thought. I'm just over tired.

But when the time came around to close the office and head to the diner, Emma got that same quivery feeling in her chest that she had gotten during the visit from her roommate earlier that afternoon. And because of it, she decided it was best that she just go home. But then Emma thought of how sad she'd make Mary Margaret feel if she stood her up, knowing she had already ditched her this morning. She couldn't do that to her friend. So instead of walking home, Emma headed for the diner.

It was snowing again, a thin layer of white covered the recently shovelled sidewalks that Emma walked along. Emma didn't mind the breeze in the air that made the snow swirl around her face. Emma was used to the cold, having lived in an orphanage during her childhood. Being warm had been a privilege during the winter months.

As Emma walked into Granny's Diner, she spotted Mary Margaret in the far left corner of the restaurant, at a table for two, keeping to herself. As Emma walked towards her, she noticed something was wrong. Mary Margaret had an expression on her face that looked almost, broken. Like she'd break out in tears at any second.

"Mary, what's wrong?" Emma said as she approached the table and went to sit down across from her friend. As Emma spoke, Mary Margaret snapped out of what ever daydream had taken her over and gave Emma a sad smile, saying, "Oh hi."

"What happened?" Emma persisted. Mary rubbed her face with her hands. Ruby, the diner's only waitress, walked up to their table, whipping out her ticket pad and pen. "So what'll it be for you two?"

"I'll have the number 1dinner special," Emma said, then looked at Mary Margaret. She was just staring at the table, as if she was unaware that Ruby was even there to take their orders. "Just make it two of those," Emma added, and Ruby walked off towards the kitchen.

"Seriously Mary Margaret, what's going on?" Emma said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder and giving her a little shake.

"David..." Mary started to say, eyes fixed on the table. "David and Kathryn were just here."

"Well, I think I'd like a drink, now that we're home," Emma announced as she walked into her and Mary Margaret's apartment. Mary followed her in, removing her hat and started to undo her coat. "Sounds good to me," she said sheepishly.

Emma got out the wine and poured two glasses. Then they both tossed their coats on the kitchen table, plopped on the couch and watched TV as they sipped at their wine. A romantic drama was on and they both just stared at the TV. Nothing was said. All Emma could think about was all the conversations she had overheard at the diner about Graham. People had been staying things like, "I heard Graham was secretly with Regina," and "It's strange having a heart attack at his age,".

Those words were haunting her as she tried to focus on the show, but she couldn't.

Mary Margaret was actually watching the show. And she wished she wasn't because the plot was unbelievably too much like her own life. A young girl feeling drawn to a man who was already married. She wanted to change the channel, but she didn't want to ask Emma for the remote. Mary just kept sipping her wine, trying to not let the show get to her. But she really just wanted to start crying.

After finishing a few glasses of wine, Emma set down the remainder of her latest drink on the coffee table, and sleepily moved over to Mary Margaret, where she then lay her head on her shoulder. Mary was a bit stunned, but didn't mind. She leaned her head against Emma's in return, and the two of them sat together for quite a while.

When the show was over, Mary turned her head to Emma and said, "Hey, I'm gonna lay down now," in a soft voice. Eyes still closed, Emma lifted her head, and stood up from the couch. "You can stay if you want," Mary said after she had gotten comfortable. With alcohol clouding her thought, Emma automatically laid next to Mary Margaret on the couch, and sleepily put an arm around her. Emma didn't have much going on in her head, except for thinking about how warm it was being next to her. And Mary Margaret was so sleepy, and maybe even a bit drunk herself, that she was only glad to have someone to hold her.

So the two of them held each other as they slept the rest of the night.

Emma awoke, her head feeling heavy and her body was shift. She groaned and shifted her legs to stretch. But as she did this she realized her leg was intertwined with someone else's, That was when Emma realized that she was lying next to Mary Margaret on the couch. Emma's heart started to race and her chest quivered even more. They were so close to each other. Emma couldn't help but look into Mary Margaret's sleeping face. She really did love her. Emma couldn't deny anymore that it wasn't a love as simple as friendship. It was all too clear now with the way she was reacting. All Emma wanted to do in that moment was kiss those sleeping lips of Mary's. And just as Emma was thinking about actually going for it, Mary began to wake up.

Her eyes opened and stared straight into Emma's. "Morning," Emma whispered. She figured they were both going to be a bit hung over after the wine last night. "Yeah, good morning," Mary replied, realizing as well that she had slept on the couch all night with Emma. It was the weirdest feeling. Mary had never realized how much she loved being so close to Emma. And at that moment she didn't want it to end.

Emma sat up on the couch, looked back at Mary and said, "So how'd you sleep?" as she ran her fingers through her messed up blond locks. "Quite well actually," Mary said with a smile, as she rolled over to lay on her back and look up at Emma. "I think... I think I dreamed of something quite nice," She added as she tried to remember what she had seen in her dreams. "Oh lucky you. What'd you dream of?" Emma asked.

Then suddenly Mary Margaret started to blush as her memories came back to her. She had dreamed about being with Emma, loving Emma. She had dreamed about kissing her. In her dream she had only done so on her forehead, but now in that moment, Mary wanted to go a bit further. She could feel it in her chest. She could see it in her mind. But she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't. Emma would hate her for it, she thought. Mary just sat up and pulled her knees up to her face saying, "It doesn't matter," while trying not to make it obvious.

A thought crossed Emma's mind that Mary might have dreamed of David. Emma wondered if she should let it go. But if she did there would be an awkward silence, and she didn't want that. So she persisted in asking. "Of course it matters, how often do you have a dream that you really enjoy?"

Mary thought about it then said, "Not often..."

Then she turned and sat on the edge of the couch beside Emma. "All right, well...," she started. But then she looked into Emma's eyes and realized Emma was looking into her's as well. There was something there, between them. A force that wanted to pull them together. Mary could feel it. Mary wanted it. And she thought she could see it in Emma's eyes too.

Then Emma, with a sudden jolt of courage, moved her face closer to Mary's, pressing their noses together and asked, "Was I in your dream by chance?"

"Yes," Mary Margaret said.

Emma then leaned in to kiss her. But the courage she had just had, slipped away. Their lips lightly brushed together as Emma began to lower her head and back away. It was all over. She thought. When suddenly Mary Margaret's hands reached up and guided Emma's face back to where it needed to be. And they kissed.

The gentle kiss seemed like a eternity before they reluctantly parted. But then they both looked at each other, fearing that the other might get mad. They were both just afraid, and confused.

"What...?" Emma started to mumble. "I know...," Mary Margaret replied, blushing more that ever. But then they the both looked back at each other and started to kiss again, and this time deeper and more intense than before. Emma's hands cupped Mary's face, and Mary's hand began to run through Emma's hair. Then Emma started to kiss down Mary's neck, making her sigh in delight.

But then suddenly the phone rang. Emma started to laugh, saying "I'll get that."

Emma walked over to the phone, Mary Margaret following her with her eyes. And with a disappointed smile, Emma picked up the phone. After a minute on the phone, Emma hung up and said, "Looks like I've got some Regina issues to deal with, I'm gonna have to take care of this now," as she reached for her coat that was still lying next to Mary's on the table from the night before. "Can I tag along? I have nothing better to do...," Mary asked. Emma put on her red coat and walked back over to Mary who was still sitting on the couch. She lay a simple, quick kiss on her lips and replied, "Better not, I'll be back before you know it," "Alright," Mary Margaret said with a sigh.

Then as Emma was about to leave, Mary said, "Wait, um...," and with a hurry in her voice, Emma interjected saying, "Don't worry, we'll talk about it when I get back."

And with a reassuring smile back to her roommate, Emma closed the door behind her and made her way out into the cold.

Thank-you for reading the beginning of my new (and first...) Once Upon A Time fan fiction. I hope you enjoyed it and I would love for you to leave an honest (but kind) review, telling me what you liked, didn't like, and what you would like to see in future chapters. If you want to at least... I don't plan on this being a big story anyway. Just a few chapters long. I'm not sure what should happen next though...

If you don't like this pairing and have nothing nice to say to me, then just forget you read this. I don't even know why you would have in the first place... :/

With that said, I look forward to hearing from people who are fans of the show as well. I love this show and would never want to disgrace it. Thank-you again. :)