Camping Trip.
The fire in Regina's study was too hot, and coupled with Regina's closeness, roused Emma from a fitful sleep. Emma drifted in and out, waking when Regina's fingers tangled in her hair and scraped her scalp lightly.
Emma had sobbed over the memories of her and Regina's old life. She had cried until she felt sick, for what was probably only half an hour but what felt like much longer. Regina rubbed her back while Emma fell asleep, her own face wet with tears as well.
Emma's first thought upon waking was that Regina smelled really good, despite the fact that her nose was buried Regina's neck and in the dampness of sweat and tears.
"Ugh." Emma winced as she moved away. Regina's hand slid easily off her waist and she peered up to where Regina's head lay on one arm. "Hey." Emma tried.
Regina's eyes opened slowly and she grunted and then tried to open them further. "The fire." She muttered. "We should sleep, but didn't want to leave it burning."
Emma rolled onto her back. The food was still out, so she set about putting that away, while Regina got up at last. The fire was poked and prodded and then finally Emma decided to stay up and watch until it went out.
"Join me in my room." Regina posed the question as a statement, but her voice was nervous. Emma nodded and stifled a yawn.
Half an hour later, Emma was downstairs, foraging in the kitchen to find glasses. She filled two with water and then flicked the light off on her way back upstairs. Her jeans felt tight and her skin felt tighter. Every new revelation pushed her out of her own body somehow…
It was as if Regina were showing Emma all of the possibilities of her life—like doors inside of her mind—just, all at once. Emma rubbed a hand, warm, damp, on the back of her neck. What did she mean by that? Doors? What doors had Regina opened?
Most obviously, the lesbo one, Emma decided with a snicker.
But more than that: Emma was not used to being read so easily She paused outside of Regina's bedroom, where a sliver of light from some candle—meant, no doubt, to show Emma the way inside—illuminated the hallway as well.
Ever since the curse lifted, Regina was like some wise and insane goddess. People kept her close to figure out the tricks she'd learned. But it wasn't out of fear anymore. People like Mary—Snow—really wanted to know Regina's stories.
"Emma?" Regina's voice was sleepy but alert. "Do you need anything? You can come in. Though if you want…"
Emma was already by the side of the bed and leaned down to hover over nervous lips.
"Can I get a shower?" Emma asked quietly. "I'll just…wear my towel afterward." Real subtle. As in, 'can I get naked with you'? Emma rolled her eyes at herself.
"Of course." Regina's voice cracked and she cleared her throat.
Emma rinsed quickly, sending her mind further into relaxation, and then crawled into bed next to Regina without hesitation, clad in her towel.
By morning, the nerves were gone. As soon as she was awake, Emma rolled over and sought out Regina who was already awake and staring at her.
Clothes were pushed aside and some kind of frantic kissing begun anew. This time, Emma would not let her emotions get the better of her…
"wait, wait." Regina gasped as Emma pressed her to the bed. "let's just…take it a bit slowly." She clasped her hands behind Emma's naked back and held on while they both caught their breath.
"Oh. Ok." Emma squeaked. "Breakfast?" she really had wanted to go farther but maybe Regina was into being wooed or romanced or something. Emma decided that she could do that. Though nerves kicked in as soon as she made the realization.
"how about…" Regina smiled brightly. "An idea. I had an idea, I mean. Do you want to maybe spend the day together? With Henry, perhaps?"
Taking it slow, for sure. The kid would definitely change the mood…
"Cool." Emma sighed with relief and let her head rest against Regina's chest.
Preparing for a camping trip was even more fun than actually going on one. After a quick breakfast, Regina and Emma tearing through stores, buying tents and sleeping bags and about ten bags of groceries which was really nine and a half bags too much.
By the time the two of them reached Snow and James' place, Regina's smile was so big it looked like it might hurt her. James gave his usual benign but kind smile at their request for Henry's return, and Snow gave her usual sinister and suspicious look toward Regina before pulling Emma close for a hug. Henry seemed curious more than anything. His eyes kept flitting back and forth between Emma and Regina who simply stood side by side, grinning like idiots.
They drove awhile and parked deeply enough in the woods so that no one would really note the car from the road. Their hike was uneventful, though Henry seemed more interested in Regina's knowledge of local history than nature itself.
"What happened there?" He kept asking, wanting to be entertained by some battle or some chance meeting, or some time when Rumpel played a trick on Regina only to be outwitted by the woman herself. Emma noted that Regina only ever called the man 'Gold'—she figured it took away his power or something to never have his name really spoken.
Henry called Regina 'Mom' a lot more than he had before the curse broke, and even grasped her hand at one point on their hike. Emma stood back a bit as Regina and Henry discussed a particularly interesting bird—something bizarrely jade colored and possibly from one of the other lands Regina kept talking about.
Emma had some time to think as they moved through the dense, lush forest. It was damp and smelled like the moss under foot. But they had enough gear, and sleeping bags that were for far colder climates, so she wasn't worried. What did worry her, were the strange stray thoughts about her future with Regina.
In 24 hours, Emma had gone from wanting to strangle Regina to wanting to spend all of her time with the woman. She almost had the urge to smack herself in the head. Her thoughts were becoming too jumbled…had somebody…
…Emma watched with a frown as Regina and Henry held hands, while Regina helped the boy over a large stump. Had somebody…what? Emma couldn't understand where her own thoughts began and the nagging voice in her head ended.
"Love spells." Emma blurted out. She walked quickly to reach Regina's side. The dark leather of Emma's boots flashed briefly. "tell us about love spells."
Regina's nose scrunched in confusion. "I'm not great with those, dear." She replied. "A love spell can simply be used to remove the barriers between oneself and ones true love." She glanced over Emma's shoulder. "Barriers like anger, jealousy, lust even. But a spell cannot be used to invent love, only to enhance what is already there."
"Huh?" Henry asked, making Regina wince with embarrassment.
"Nevermind." Regina said. "the point is that I'm just not good with such things." She looked thoughtfully over Emma's shoulder again. "Ask Snow. Ask her, she's good at such trickery." With that, Regina shrugged and nudged Henry along on the path. But then Regina stopped in her tracks again. "Gold." She said, turning around to look at Emma who was staring at the ground.
Their eyes met.
"Ask Gold." Regina said quietly. Her eyes, so bright over the previous few hours, had grown sad again. She spoke as she turned around and Emma barely heard the words added: "Gold's favorite spell, really."
The spot they picked out had ample room for two tents and a small fire. There were scattered logs that could serve as seats. The tents were not easy to put up, but Regina and Henry set about accomplishing the task while Emma organized their dinner. Emma built a fire, which was her new favorite thing these days, she decided. In fact Emma spoke little for the rest of the evening, preferring to let Henry and Regina banter back and forth about every little thing. In two hours, Emma learned all she could possibly learn about the constellations and about the positioning of the moon every 1000 years.
"You two should probably move in together." Henry decided sometime around 11pm, poking the fire with a stick charred black and covered in the ashes of a thoroughly destroyed marshmallow. "It'll make Operation Stingray a lot easier."
Regina, who had been dozing a little, jumped. "Operation…wait…" She looked hurt as well as confused. "I've told you both everything now. I mean what more…"
"no, no." Henry waved her concern away. "Operation Stingray is all about…you know who…" He wouldn't say Gold's real name or even his old one anymore. "we need to figure out what he's up to." Henry's eyes narrowed as he looked Emma and then Regina over carefully. "He's got plans for you two. So be careful."
Emma's mouth fell open. She was about to ask what or why or how…
"I'd like to go to sleep now." Henry said abruptly. Regina didn't look at all surprised and simply reached out for a hug. Emma also got a hug before the kid disappeared into his tent.
"He's been like that since he was a baby." Regina explained quietly. "When he started speaking, he started deciding his own bedtime and naptimes as well." Regina shrugged. "He always knew better than I did how much sleep he needed. It was everything else we fought about."
Emma nodded and smiled nervously. She watched as Regina got to her feet and walked over to sit next to Emma. They were on the ground, without even a blanket. Emma let her arm be lifted so that Regina could crawl beneath it.
Something about that easy gesture was the proverbial straw for Emma. She tugged Regina sideways until they lay down, a large log that Henry had been using as his seat, now blocked their view of the kid's tent.
Emma whispered "One minute, I'm so angry at you I could scream and the next, I'm tearing off your nightgown and…" She pressed her forehead to Regina's and exhaled. "Can you tell me what's happening? What are we doing exactly?"
They lay together, frozen, for a long time. Emma felt tense, not just from the weird angle of her head on her own arm and Regina's arms around her waist, but from worrying and wondering what was happening between them.
"Tell me more." Emma tried again. "About what you said. About that…like…past life thing."
"We talked about that, remember? You started crying. You remember it all as clearly as I do." Regina's lips were pressed to Emma's collarbone now as she mumbled.
"It's as clear as mud." Emma fumed.
"Well, dear, what did you expect?" Regina pulled away and clasped Emma's face in both hands. Emma shifted so that their legs tangled together. "Past lives…are never clear." Regina continued to stroke Emma's cheek as she spoke. "We were different people then. I've changed again and again. I don't think it's normal, what happened to us. We left unfinished business in Wonderland." Regina gentled her tone, acknowledging that it was confusing for her as well. "Something pulled us together in the next life. And the life after that."
They fell quiet again. The crackling of the fire was dying down but the heat still spread from it. Emma reached briefly, grabbed a large'ish piece of wood, and tossed it onto the fire—all without breaking their embrace. She grinned as a shower of sparks flew from where the log hit.
"And in this life." Emma said. "Something has pulled us together in this life." She touched the tips of their noses together, rubbing playfully before pulling back just an inch.
"Yet, you're still so angry with me." Regina gasped as Emma rolled on top of her, pinning her against the hard ground.
"yup." Emma shrugged. She looked at Henry's tent. "Kid asleep, you think?" She moved her thigh between Regina's legs to entice an accurate response.
"He's usually out like a light." Regina replied with a gasp. "I'm sorry, I mean…I know you've missed finding these things out…"
"Oh, yes, well." Emma shifted so that her thigh was more firmly between Regina's legs even though what she intended on accomplishing was simply to readjust, to get more comfortable. Regina was panting now.
Then, without warning, Regina grasped the back of Emma's thigh, pulled hard, and pressed herself, shaking harder than before, her free hand pressed suddenly to her mouth.
"Oh." Emma's eyes widened and she stared, fascinated. "Did you just. Um…"
Regina nodded weakly and looked utterly humiliated.
"Awesome." Emma muttered, in awe now. "Do that again?"
Regina burst out in relieved laughter. They both started to laugh and then stopped all at once, in unison. Regina's neck craned and Emma looked up…but Henry's tent was still totally silent, and they could both hear his even breathing when they gave it a minute. Regina waited longer, while Emma began to kiss her neck softly.
"There it is." Regina whispered at the sound of a slight snore. "He has been out for awhile." Her eyes closed as Emma's lips brushed softly over her throat. "We probably…"
"Shouldn't?" Emma asked. Regina nodded, blushing deeply. This made Emma smirk. "Not quite fair, is it?"
"I'll make it up to you." Regina's voice was hoarse as she drew Emma for a long overdue kiss.
Their lips were damp and slippery; mouths opened to let tongues tangle together. By the time they were through Emma was the one panting and rocking her hips.
"Ugh." Emma growled against Regina's hair, trying to calm herself. "Let's just…"
"S'mores?" Regina whimpered as Emma reached down to grab her ass, to press her harder.
"I was going to say sleep." Emma huffed, smiling and stopping their movements.
They packed the food back into the car and put out the fire. Originally, the two tent idea was Regina's way of sending a message that Emma and Henry were a family unit now. Regina had to earn her way back into that family unit in her own mind, so she purchased an enormous tent for Henry and Emma and a smaller one for herself. But when Regina crawled into the empty tent, Emma retrieved her sleeping bag from the other, and threw it beside Regina.
In the morning, Emma woke up wrapped around Regina. She listened to the quiet breathing of the other woman and allowed herself the luxury of just enjoying the sight of dark hair against her arm and Regina's relaxed expression.
But Henry was already up, clamoring around so Emma gently extracted herself from Regina's hold.
"Mom? Emma?" Henry whispered at the opening of the tent.
Regina was up like a shot. "Henry? Is everything all right?"
"Oh, yeah, of course." He replied. There was a pause. "Um…can I come in?"
Emma reached up and unzipped the tent, smiling at the messy-haired boy.
Henry flopped between them and confirmed Emma's suspicions. He wanted to go and have breakfast in town.
Regina sighed with relief. "Thank god. I mean yes, let's go." She muttered something about sleeping in a real bed and getting the use of her neck back sometime this century.
But they took their time taking down tents and packing up sleeping bags, pillows and tarps. Emma promised a better blow-up mattress to Regina in exchange for doing the camping thing again sometime.
Regina paused at one point, as Emma closed the trunk of the car.
"We won't have much choice in the matter, fairly soon." Regina decided. Her gaze was off in the distance, as though she could see something coming.
When they had almost reached town, the first person Emma saw was Gold—laughing and waving from the edge of the woods.