Title: Coming Home
Author: Bladed Darkness
Category: Once Upon a Time
Summary: A tiny drabble written after Going Home. A little bit of implied Swan Queen if you squint.
Characters: Emma Swan, Regina Mills, Henry (Swan)Mills
Length: 250+
Rating: K
The pressure was overwhelming. All these people, greeting her in this homey little diner in a town that her son had all but forced her to bring them to, and she didn't recognize anyone. But Henry did. He was chatting excitedly with all these faces she didn't know, but apparently knew her and her son. Quite well if the amounts of physical interaction she'd been subjected to were to go by.
It was stifling. The pressure of being the center of attention, mercifully albeit temporarily off of her thanks to Henry's exuberance, was crushing in on her. Reluctantly, she started to look for an easy exit, loathe to leave the teen alone with all these strangers. But they weren't strangers to him, were they?
Unnoticed, she slipped down a hallway, secluding herself in the restroom and taking deep breaths, gripping the sink tightly. She looked at herself in the mirror, recognizing and hating the panicked expression in the reflection. Glaring at herself, she straightened up and headed for the door, preparing to march into the throng and not be overwhelmed again.
Almost instantly, however, her shoulder slammed jarringly into someone upon leaving the bathroom, the impact forcing her aside.
"I'm sorry, I - " the words died off as the woman recognized her.
Emma raised her head slowly, taking a deep breath involuntarily as her eyes met brown ones and a name slipped passed her lips unbidden.
"Regina," she breathed, leaning against the wall.
The brunette's mouth fell open slightly in shock, and Emma had only a moment to realize Regina was expecting a more amnesiac response before her name was whispered between plump lips and all background sound seemed to die away.
"Emma."