Disclaimer: I don't own nothing to do with OUAT. Damn.
It was the smell of coffee and burnt toast that started Regina's slow journey back to consciousness. With a heavy groan Regina hid her face in the pillow.
"I know that one. So much for not getting a hangover in the morning." A disgustingly chipper voice announced. Her face still in the pillow, Regina opened her eyes, blinking against the offending sunlight that still managed to offend her aching eyes, before widening as the actions from the night before came rushing back.
"Ms Swan-" She began hoarsely, rolling onto her back and flopping an arm across her eyes, forgoing her usual grace and elegance - mostly because she did not care what the blonde thought of her anymore. Last night was testament to that.
"I told you to call me Emma. Or don't you remember?" The blonde questioned with an amused snort as the brunette tired to ignore the dull throbbing in her head.
"Of course I remember." She snapped loudly, before wincing at the volume. Emma watched the woman, obviously plagued with a hangover, with barely hidden glee.
"Here, you'll need this." She said softly as she placed a glass of water and aspirin on the bedside table. Regina's head rolled to the side and watched the blonde with narrowed eyes. "It's water. Not vodka."
"Very funny, Ms Swan." Regina mumbled popping the pills on her tongue and bringing the water to her lips. Finishing the glass she sighed as the taste of alcohol was slowly washed from her taste buds. Regina pulled herself into a sitting position on the ghastly patterned duvet and rubbed her eyes with her hand.
"So, what do you remember?" Emma asked back in the kitchen and happily munching on her slightly blackened toast.
"Enough." Regina replied, silently thanking the blonde for the aspirin as the pounding lessened. Emma snorted at the comment before filling up two mugs with coffee.
"Come on, breakfast always helps." Emma encouraged as she tempted the brunette with her mug of coffee. Making a show out of tasting the home-brewed concoction with borderline inappropriate moans.
"If it'll shut you up." Regina muttered as she tentatively stood up, with a hint of pride at how sturdy she was. Cautiously making her way to the island on her sock-covered feet, Regina slid onto the stool Emma had previously occupied during the night and sipped at the offered beverage.
"You gonna help us?" Emma asked conversationally as she leant against the opposite counter blowing the top of the coffee in the hopes of it not burning her tongue.
"With what? Your mother's doing a fine job of running this town." Regina muttered, her usual annoyance at Snow White filling her tone.
Emma snorted, "Yeah, and I'm the muffin man." She chuckled before taking a gulp of her coffee, promptly regretting it as the hot liquid scolded her tongue.
"No, that would be Mr Hampsted." Regina stated with a roll of her eyes.
"Huh. Should've figured seeing as he was the baker. They are damn good muffins, though."
"They're adequate."
"Come off it! Those are probably the best damn muffins I've ever had!" Emma argued.
"Had a lot of muffins in your time, Ms Swan?" Regina asked, a smirk playing around her lips coming into view when Emma failed to pick up her jaw.
"Did you just… Holy crap." Emma whispered frozen in shock from the brunette's blatant innuendo.
"Love a warm apple muffin, myself." Regina said with a wink to the blonde, thoroughly enjoying her gobsmacked expression as Emma spluttered. "If I knew that would shut you up I would have done this ages ago."
"What admit you're a lesbian?" Emma blurted without tact, once again confirming her heritage as a Charming.
"Oh please. Don't act all pure and godly with me. Can you honestly say you haven't dabbled?" Regina waved her comment off and turned back to enjoying her coffee. "I bet your mother has." She mumbled into the mug, her mind turning back to her curious thoughts as to how close Snow White really was with Red. Might be a colours thing...
"Oh? OH! No! God! Stop!" Emma begged, one hand covering her eyes from the images slowly forming in her brain. "Why the hell did you have to say that?"
"I didn't think you would hear. But this is vastly entertaining." Regina taunted with unadulterated joy.
"You were more fun drunk." Emma mused, pinching the bridge of her nose and trying desperately to dispel the images from her mind.
"Well that's one joy you'll never be privy to again."
"Why?" Regina's silence intrigued the blonde as she watched the former mayor's cool façade. The fact that Regina didn't meet her eyes spoke volumes. "Are you going to help us?"
Regina met the blonde's eyes from a moment before turning back to the empty coffee mug in her hands, mentally thanking the blonde for the change in topic no matter how tactless, "You don't need my help."
"No. We do. We really do." Emma admitted honestly. "I've only faced your mother once and it was damn lucky she couldn't pull my heart out." Emma started back a bit as Regina's head snapped up, her eyes roaming her face.
"She… couldn't?"
"Nah. Tried though. Yanked as hard as she could but it didn't budge. Hurt like hell though." Emma answered, her hand unconsciously moving to rub at the spot where Cora's hand had plunged through her chest.
"Why?" Regina asked, sitting up straight, her eyes locked on Emma's hand.
"I don't know. I tried speaking to Gold about it but all I got was some damn riddle."
"What did he say?" Regina commanded. The authority in her voice reminiscent of the mayor but Emma could see the royal undertone. It was the slight accent, the lift of a chin, and the stare that proved she was once a Queen.
"Some crap about how I was powerful because I'm the product of true love. Then he made me do the whole dream-catcher mumbo jumbo." Emma trailed off as she slowly began to realise the importance behind the actions that had occurred. For so long she'd been trying to deny the truth about what she could do but now it was staring her in the face.
"Ms Swan," Regina watched the already pale woman's face whiten considerably, "Emma." She spoke gently, knowing not to spook the blonde.
"Yeah?" She asked quietly, her green eyes wide and not focusing on anything in particular.
"What happened when my mother tried to rip out your heart?" She spoke slowly. Clearly stressing each word as Emma shook her head, placing her own mug on the counter beside her as her hands shook minutely.
"Uh, well. She was going to take Snow's and I jumped in the way. She tried pulling it out, and thankfully wasn't able to. Then some light kinda shoved her away and Snow and I were able to come back." Emma finished with a shrug as though what she had just explained was an everyday occurrence.
"Why don't you just use your magic against my mother?" Regina questioned, head titling to the side as she thought, or tried to. The pounding was slowly beginning to build behind her eyes again.
"Because I don't know how! It's not like anyone here is going to help me. Gold's out of the question. I don't wanna owe him anything more. Mother Superior has her own problems and just wants to throw magic at me and see how I do! They're insane! All of them! Goddamn fairy tales!" Emma blurted out, breathing heavily form her small rant. Biting her lip she regretted what she'd just said. Her parents were trying their best but now with the obvious threat inching closer every minute their support was beginning to feel like smothering. She wasn't used to this, having people always near.
Having friends and a family was foreign to her, and she tried to make it work. She really did. But when they weren't here it was when she truly felt at peace. She didn't have to worry about her smile slipping or saying something against them. She didn't have to hold her tongue.
"Sorry. You didn't need to hear that." Emma commented behind her hands that hid her face from the perceptive woman before her. "Look. I'll figure something out."
Regina pulled back slightly at the uncommon behaviour from the blonde. She'd always pushed Regina and gone against her every wish, but now she was giving up, giving her an out.
An out, Regina realised with shock, she didn't want to take.
"Ms Sw-Emma," She corrected at the raised brow from the blonde, secretly pleased at the tired smile on the Sheriff's lips. "She's my mother. It's my fault everyone is here, so I should face her."
"What are you going to do walk up to her and tell her to stop?" Emma scoffed. There was no way Cora would just back down because Regina told her to, even if she was her daughter. Cora wasn't the type to halt her plans for destruction.
"I have to try." Regina admitted wearily.
"Hey, you don't have to do this alone." Emma moved to the island reaching over to place a hand on Regina's shoulder, pausing before pulling back and just leaning on the island.
"You're getting touchingly sentimental." Regina noted, hiding her surprise behind a smirk, not wanting Emma to see how grateful she truly was for the sentiment.
"Nah, it's just what Henry keeps telling me." Emma said. A proud smile forming on both woman's lips at the thought of the boy who was too wise for his years and caring for the people that should be doing that for him. "He's right though, Regina." Emma acknowledged.
"What? You're going to help me?" Regina asked. Her eyes roved over the blonde woman's face for any sign of deception. She was being uncharacteristically kind to the woman who had forced her to go through 28 years without a family, with said family being cursed to a meaningless existence. But maybe that's what impending death did to people. Granted it had changed her, by coming here and drinking herself into a stupor with the Sheriff.
But Emma's words were stirring something inside her. She couldn't figure out what it was but the tingling she began to feel was promptly blamed on the remnants of the alcohol in her system.
"Why not? It'll certainly surprise her. Hell, it'll surprise everyone. Might give us a slight advantage." Emma said confidently, her eyes drifting to the opposite wall as she began to formulate a plan. It probably wouldn't work but… what the hell?
"Optimism doesn't suit you, Ms Swan."
"You should try it some time." Emma retorted, tipping her head to the woman.
"Yes. And then afterwards my best friend Snow White and I will go apple picking." Regina mocked with a roll of her eyes. Back home, in the Enchanted Forest when Snow was younger, they'd done just that. They had spent their afternoons at her tree, tending to it – bonding, Snow had called it.
"Optimism doesn't suit you, Ms Mills." Emma repeated, earning an unexpected laugh from the brunette before she lapsed back to silent contemplation. Emma could see a myriad of emotions playing in the woman's brown eyes. The simple fact that she could see them highlighted how far the former mayor had fallen.
Her mask had cracks in it, and they were beginning to show.
"So, you're going to help me defeat my mother?" Regina stated, swerving the conversation back to the most vital point of why they were even here.
"Yup. You can't face her alone and we gotta protect Henry." Regina nodded along. If Cora got Henry then they were, well for lack of better words, screwed.
"And what do you plan for us to do then?" Regina asked, leaning forward on the island in genuine interest. Emma mirrored her position as a look of gratitude swept across her face for a moment.
"Okay. Well, I was thinking first maybe you could help me with my magic." Emma continued to speak, her hands began moving about as she became more involved in her words.
And Regina watched, taking in her words, and piping up with her own input every now and then. There were a few disagreements, which didn't shock either party, and Regina was quite grateful. If they were able to have a civilised conversation then maybe Cora had already won.
But as she watched the blonde get more animated about her plan that unfamiliar feeling returned. And while the pounding behind her eyes remained, although it had lessened considerably for which she was thankful, she wondered if it was something else.
As she contemplated the tingling she felt, Emma shot her a sudden smile. It was a smile she'd only given to Henry, yet here she was sending it to her.
It startled Regina greatly, but not as much as the sensation of the tingling growing. And it was when the smile dissipated from the blonde Sheriff's lips that Regina recognised what she felt.
It was something she hadn't felt in a very long time.
It was hope.
AN: Wanted to get this up before I left for camp, so excuse any mistakes. Your reviews from the first chapter were unexpected but very welcome! It's great to hear from you even if it's just to say "really good." It is my first fic for OUAT so it would be great to hear if I'm doing well, or need to change anything. So...
Review, tell me what you think. :)