Regina's heels clacked against the somewhat sticky linoleum floor of Storybrooke High. She wasn't sure why she'd been selected to sub for the history teacher. Probably because Emma was investigating how he'd been turned into a frog in the first place…. Still, it was a chance to spend time with Henry. Or at least get to see him.
She entered the classroom and stopped short, realizing there was already someone there.
"Morning," she said.
The girl stopped organizing the bookshelves and turned to face her. "Uh...hi?" she said, looking just as confused as to why Regina was here.
"I'm Mr. Naveen's substitute," Regina explained, sitting down at the desk.
"Oh! Right. I'm Santana, his TA."
"TA?"
"Teacher's Assistant," Santana explained. "I come help out instead of sleeping through a study hall period."
"Fair enough," Regina said, smiling.
There was something about Santana, Regina decided halfway through the lesson. The girl hadn't spoken at all, and had sat at the back marking papers. But Regina knew, somehow, that the girl knew magic. She wasn't sure why, but it was something she could just feel. By the time the final bell rang, she'd made up her mind to ask.
"Santana? Could you stay back?"
Henry gave her a curious look as he wandered out with his friends. She gave him a reassuring smile. He'd moved on from thinking all magic was bad - and even practiced a bit on his own - but she had a feeling he wouldn't love the idea of her discussing magic with one of his schoolmates.
"What's up, Mayor Mills?" Santana asked, sitting on the corner of the desk.
Regina reclined back in her chair. "How long have you lived in Storybrooke, Santana?"
A brief moment of panic flashed across Santana's face, but it was gone in an instant. "A while. As long as I can remember."
"And how long can you remember?" Regina smiled when Santana glared defiantly at her. "Don't worry. Plenty of people don't remember their lives before the curse. I'm not going to beat around the bush here -"
"Wanky," Santana muttered.
Regina settled for rolling her eyes and continued. "You can do magic. I can practically feel it radiating off of you. What can you do?"
Santana continued to stare at her for a moment longer before waving her hand. There was a puff of bright red smoke, and Regina's coffee mug turned into a small toy pig. When Santana waved her hand again, it turned back. "I try to keep that on the low."
"Of course. I have an idea - no strings attached. If you don't like it, your secret is still perfectly safe with me."
"I'm listening…."
"I need an assistant. Like a personal assistant - you could work for me after school."
"What's in it for me?"
"Learning how to fine tune your magic from the best."
Santana loved the forest. She knew it was the one place she could go to get some privacy - most Storybrooke kids didn't venture out here. Lately, though, she'd been coming out here to practice. Regina had kept to her end of the deal, and Santana was getting better every day. She liked the battle stuff - hurling fireballs, zapping energy to or from an opponent - but a lot of what Regina had been teaching her had to do with control. It's easy to conjure fire and hurl it at someone, but the concentration and control it takes to make a rose grow and bloom before your eyes was quite a surprise to Santana.
It was a clear, warm Saturday, and she blew off some steam by throwing a couple of energy balls at the dummies she and Regina had set up at the beginning of the month. When she paused to catch her breath, she sat down on a tree stump and listened. She knew she'd been followed, and was wondering how to appropriately terrify the intruder.
Henry stepped out from behind a tree.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't decide to toss fire at you," Santana said, grinning at the freshman.
"Mom would've killed you," he said.
"Probably. What do you want?"
"I want you to stay away from my mom."
She stood up and turned to face him fully. "Your mom is the single best teacher I've ever had. My parents don't understand magic - she does. And you can tell she's been dying to train someone for ages."
"She's taught me," Henry said. "I have magic."
Santana waved her hand and a large sugar cookie with sprinkles appeared in a puff of red smoke. "Would you like a cookie?" She waved it away when he glared at her. "Anyway, you have baby magic. You can do little showy tricks, and that's it because you don't practice. Deep down, you're afraid of magic, right?"
"What would you know about it?" Henry snapped.
"Touched a nerve. I'm not quitting my job with your mom. She's cool, and doesn't yell at me. Which is more than I can say for the kids who work at Granny's."
"She only wants you to work for her, you know," Henry said. "You wouldn't have a shot."
"Oh!" Santana said, laughing. "Is that what this is about? You're afraid you'll have three mommies as soon as I graduate?" She cackled at his disgruntled expression for a moment before walking over and ruffling his hair. "Besides the fact that I have my eye on a hot werewolf who makes amazing cinnamon rolls? You're mom is totally gay for your blonde mom. Chillax, dude."
Henry gave her a curious look then. "How… I thought… How can you tell?"
"A, the smoldering looks they give each other. B, the fact that their powers totally feed off each other. C, I spend enough time in Madam Mayor's office after school to know just how much time the Sheriff spends there. D, I'm just good at these things."
He was quiet for a moment, and Santana turned to go back to fricasseing the dummies. Then Henry called out to her.
"Want to help me get them together?"
Santana turned around again and gave him an appraising look. Then she smiled. "So long as it doesn't get me fired."
"I'll come back here tomorrow, and we can talk."
"I'll see you then," she said, forming a fireball and hurling it towards one of the scarecrows.
Nearby, hidden by a thick clump of trees, Regina vanished a viewing portal. She turned to Emma, trying not to laugh.
"Should we tell them?" she asked.
"Nah," Emma said, taking her hand. "Let's see what they come up with."
"My apprentice is really off to an interesting start."
FIN