Emma wasn't sure when she started having feelings towards Regina. She supposed it must have been somewhere between taking a chainsaw to the brunette's apple tree and getting pulled through a portal after saving the former Queen from the wraith, whatever they were.
That day, there had been no voice in her head telling her anything. It had just been her first reaction to get Regina the hell out of harm's way. It had been her first reaction to save the woman a few times. Thinking back, Emma realised, it really shouldn't have taken her so long. But then, emotional intelligence was never really her area.
It had been sitting across the campfire from her mother in Fairytale Land that realisation dawned on the blonde. Her mother had been sitting reminiscing one night. Emma supposed it was meant to bring them closer together, let her get to know her mother better. She didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't working. Listening to the way her mother spoke about Regina, and their pasts, all Emma could think, was that the woman across from her didn't know Regina at all. She knew the Evil Queen, the Mayor, the personas that Regina pulled around her like a cloak, but she didn't know Regina. Didn't seem to realise that those characters were just for show.
Finally, Emma had told her mother she had to pee, rolling her eyes at the shout of 'be careful' that followed her into the forest. She snorted. She'd be fine. Always had been. She walked a little way through the densely packed trees before coming to a halt in a small clearing. She sat with her back leaning against a tree trunk, staring up at the sky. Her mind was still filled with her mother's words. Had the woman thought she would be shocked at the event's that made up Regina's past? If that had been Snow's aim she was way off the mark.
All Emma could think was how terrified the older woman must have been. How alone. In the dark, she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.
She was terrified. She always had been, in one way or another. First from her mother, then of her husband, of Rumplestiltskin...and always, of what she was capable of.
Emma shivered, and not because of the cold. She wished Regina was here. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate having her mother here. She was damn grateful for it, actually. The thought of being here alone was terrifying. All she wanted was to get back home. Her mother, however, seemed to think they already were.
Regina wouldn't think that, Emma knew. She would be trying everything she could to get them out of here and back to the land of indoor plumbing and their son. It wasn't only that Regina would know what to do, or at least where to start, Emma realised. She actually missed the brunette. She missed her sharp wit and her sarcastic remarks. Their little exchanges now, although still heated, didn't burn. Playful, was the word them, Emma decided.
Looking around the dark woods, a little playful banter would be welcome right about now. It would stop the thoughts of whatever monster was about to come creeping through the trees next. Deciding she had better head back to her mother before the woman came looking for her, Emma pushed herself to her feet. She tiled her head towards the sky once more, wondering, if words away, Regina was possibly thinking of her...
Shaking her head, Emma told herself not to be stupid. Of course Regina wouldn't be thinking of her. Or if she was, it would be to thank the Fates that she was gone.