Thanks to everyone reading and commenting. I really appreciate it. Oh, and this story is not at all related to anything in the season finale.

Part 4

Emma shoved her hands into the pockets of her red leather jacket and kept walking toward her car. She heard Regina asking her to wait, but she wasn't up for another round with the Mayor and decided to just ignore her. "Emma," Regina gritted, and then raised her hands up when the Savior had yet turned around.

Once the purple smoke dissipated in front of the blonde, Regina was now standing in front of her to block her escape. "I said wait," she hissed with a glare.

"Why? So you can laugh at the fact that I tried to be your friend and take you to the party?"

Regina silently took a calming breath; she had no idea why she gotten upset… this entire thing was stupid. Besides she knew Emma was right; she did promise they would always friends. "I guess you just caught me off guard. If your offer is still available, then I accept."

Emma slowly blinked at her and gave the former queen her best 'I don't give a shit' face as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I am going that way, so in all seriousness it's not a big deal."

The corner of Regina's lip curled up in a somewhat sort of a smirk as she sauntered closer to the Sheriff. "Believe me Swan, it is a big deal to escort me."

Emma snorted. "I'm not escorting you; I'm only giving you a ride."

"Now now, Miss Swan, as you said earlier, we are friends and I don't believe that friends with benefits were in our deal?"

"Oh please," the Savior huffed with an extravagant eye roll. "Now are you coming or do you just want to poof yourself there and save me from the headache of having to listen to you complain yet again about how much you hate my death trap."

"Well, if you want to be like that, then yeah I'll just …what was it you called it you dim wit? Oh that's right; I'll just poof myself to the bonfire, or on second thought, I could just not go at all." She started to raise her hand up to teleport back inside her mansion when Emma instantly erased the space that was between them and reached up and grabbed her hand. "Not so fast." The electricity hummed between them as soon as skin touched skin.

"Let go of me!" Regina demanded.

Emma only held on tighter. "Not until you make an appearance at the party, because if I have to go, so do you." She gave Regina a wicked smile. "Because after all, isn't that what friends are for, to be there for each other?"

Regina exhaled harshly and tilted her head. Her free hand now gripped Emma's just as hard. "Then we go my way," she smirked, and with a flash they disappeared in a purple cloud.

Within seconds they landed on the beach together holding hands, and as the swirls of purple mist faded, they noticed the entire town looking at them with exuberant smiles on their faces. "About time you two love birds show up," Grumpy grunted, aggravation clearly lining his rough voice.

"Awww, you two are so cute," Granny interjected with a smile as she watched the two women holding hands.

Apparently the newest couple of true love wasn't aware of how it looked until Snow graciously came before them. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you guys accepted this."

Regina blinked and gave Snow an odd look. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah excuse me?" Emma joined in, and raised her hand up toward her mother, and that's when she noticed that they were still holding hands. "What the.."

Regina flinched and immediately flung her hand away from the Savior's. "This isn't what it appears," she snarled in her defense.

"Yeah, she just didn't want to ride in my car, that's it," Emma swallowed.

Regina nodded. "Yeah, what she said. Besides, this was faster."

"Yeah yeah, and we knew we were already late."

Snow's head bent forward and a knowing grin fell across her face. "Oh would you two just knock it off? But I do find it very cute how you quickly defend each other without even realizing it."

Regina's fists clenched and her jaw followed suit. "Well you got us here; what do you want us to do?"

Emma grimaced. "Regina," she whispered out of the side of her mouth. "Do not tempt them, you never know what they will ask." Her green eyes went wide hoping the brunette would catch on, and as soon as her dark eyes went just as wide, she knew she did. But before Regina could rectify her words, Snow cut in to give her big speech.

In the end it was basically about how we finally defeated the dark one and now was a time to celebrate. She turned to Regina and Emma. "Now will you both do us the honor?" she asked with a cheerful smile, pointing to the large stack of wood.

She wanted to roll her eyes but Emma beat her to it. "You ready?" she asked, holding out a hand for the other woman to take.

"You know we can do this without holding hands."

"Yeah I know, but I kind of like holding your hand," Emma winked. "Plus they might leave us alone if they think we finally accepted this."

Regina groaned, yet her hand slid into the blonde's, and then that damn ache was back around her heart. She had to take another breath to settle herself before they both raised their free hands in the air and pointed them at the unlit pile of wood. In a flash, white fire mixed with red flew from their hands and within seconds the fire came to life.

"Woooohoooo," the crowd cheered. "Let's party!"

Regina slowly glanced down at their joined hands. "You can let go now, Swan."

Emma reluctantly let her hand go and gave a tiny smile and shrugged. "Have a nice night, Madam Mayor." She turned and walked away from the brunette, keeping the frown on her lips hidden.

Regina was about to disappear away in a flash, but Henry ran up to her before she could. "That was so cool," he gloated.

"Henry," Regina dipped her head toward her son. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I am, and I so glad you and Ma finally accepted that it was true love's kiss and not CPR."

Regina closed her eyes and inwardly groaned. "That's not what …"

"Oh guess what?" He cut her off.

"What?"

"Mulan is back in town," he grinned happily.

"She is huh." Regina sort of smiled and then shook her head. "We could have used her a few months ago."

"I know right," Henry agreed. "You know Mom, you were a hero in so many ways."

"So was Emma," Regina countered.

"I know, and you both deserve to be happy," he sighed. "So why don't you?"

"It's complicated." Her lips thinned and her eyes glossed in a sorrowful gleam as she watched Robin move through the crowd.

Henry noticed it and sighed again, but more loudly so his mother would notice. "Mom, you know better."

She finally looked at her son, taking in the frown that was evident on his features. "Henry," she said sternly. "Don't 'you know better' to me….I invented that."

"Well you do! You know as well as everyone here that the one you are destined to be with, to be happy with, is not over there." Henry looked to Robin. "But it's over there…. with her," he said and now looked over at his other mother weaving out of the crowd and heading off to a more wooded part of the beach.

Regina rubbed at her brow and inhaled a deep breath. "And what if it's not Henry? What if we mess up our friendship?"

"And what if you get everything you have ever wanted, and more?"

She looked at Robin, who was laughing and joking with some of the town's people, and in her chest she knew her future was no longer with the Prince of Thieves. But how was she supposed to take this next step? This was Emma Swan for god's sake…..the fucking Savior….. the town's Sheriff...and most of all, her best and only friend.

"You could just start by just talking." Henry advised with a smile. "Keep being the friends you two are… the ones who save each other because you both are so desperate to give one another their happy endings."

"I thought we both had that, Henry; she had Hook and I had Robin."

"And they both didn't last." He turned to his mother and grabbed both of her hands. "Aren't you tired of not getting what you deserve? Don't you want to be happy and stay that way forever?"

Tears filled the Queen's dark eyes. "I do, Henry."

"Then at least try, because I know you, Mom. You're the smarted person I know. So I know that you know deep in your heart that my Ma is your true love."

Regina did know it; she just didn't want to accept it, because that would mean she was destined to be with the Savior all along. "Fine, I'll go talk to her." She nervously blew out a breath and wondered why she was feeling anxious. It was just Emma, her friend….Snow and Charming's daughter and Henry's other mother. No big deal. Smoothing down her shirt, the former queen began to walk toward where she last saw the blonde escape.

"Good luck," she heard Henry call out to her, and then the nerves started to boil up in her gut all over again.

Emma was still greatly disturbed by how much of her entire body ached to be close to Regina again. She leaned against a small tree as she sipped on her own booze; she knew to stay away from Grumpy's homemade stuff. Feeling the fire of the whiskey burn in her stomach, she watched the stars start to make their appearance in the sky that was growing darker by the second.

Regina entered the quiet area and noticed the blonde leaning against the tree staring up at the sky. She stared at her a moment longer, then exhaled her nervous breath and took a few steps closer. "May I ask you a question?"

Startled, Emma jumped, and then relaxed from the voice she knew well. The Sheriff reluctantly turned toward her and inclined her head, indicating assent.

"Do you really think it was CPR?"

Emma twitched and Regina could clearly see her swallow. "I um..." she said after a moment. "Uh do you?"

Regina felt her lips tug up from how Emma seemed a little anxious, because that meant she wasn't the only one. "May I?" She opted not to answer either and pointed to the small whiskey bottle that was resting in the other woman's hand.

"Uh yeah, uh sure." Emma carefully handed it over careful not to touch any of Regina's fingers.

Regina gave her a thankful smile before she took a sip. "Oh god what is this?" Her head went back, rocked slightly, and her lips took on a sour expression. "That burns," she coughed, and Emma quickly reached out a hand to grasp the brunette's arm to steady her.

"You okay?"

Regina stared at her blankly, and then blinked as a hand fell across her chest. "Of course…but, why in the hell are you drinking this stuff?" she asked as she handed it back over.

"It's good." Emma rebutted, taking another swig.

"So is this just fun or what?"

Emma gave her a sideways glance. "Huh, what?"

"Being here at this lame ass party. We can't even get comfortable enough to be real with each other."

"I'm real."

Regina's brows narrowed sharply. "Then tell me, was it CPR or not? Be honest with me."

"I don't…." Emma mumbled, and looked toward the ground, then finally clenched her jaw and raised her head. "Yeah sure, and it doesn't matter does it?" she asked directly, now standing straighter as she gazed directly at the older woman.

"I don't have your superpower of knowing when one is lying to me….but Emma," she drawled heavily. "Right now, I do know that you are."

Emma gave her a look, and it lasted longer then she intended seeing her out here under the stars. That hard edge in her brown eyes only made the blonde's heart crash against her ribs as her pulse raced off at an accelerated rate, and she knew she needed a moment to compose herself. "So what if I am? I mean, it doesn't matter does it?"

"But it does, and now I'm curious." Regina flicked an eyebrow up at her.

Emma eyes squinted and she watched Regina come toward her. "What's going on? What are you thinking?" she stammered awkwardly, as she watched the mayor move closer to her, those dark mesmerizing eyes never leaving her own.

"Aren't you even just a little curious to know if it's true or not?" she asked, even if she already knew the answer.

Emma's breath squeezed through her tight lips as Regina's husky whisper vibrated through her entire body. Deep down she knew the answer; she knew what had actually happened out there that night when she saved Regina. So why was she so chicken to actually admit it to her? And why does it matter? Nothing was going change between them anyways. She was actually just about to voice that when….

Regina crossed what was left of the space that separated them. She was tired of the nonsense small talk they were having and she just had to know. Grabbing the lapels of that red leather jacket, she pressed her lips to Emma's, kissing the Savior like it was completely normal to kiss her best friend like this. Quickly realizing that everything was perfect, everything just felt right, the sweetness of her lips making her body respond instantly with desire. The former queen felt Emma's arms tighten around her, the sound soft of a moan slipped from the blonde's pink lips, and Regina felt it in her own mouth, she felt the kiss deepen, yet she pulled away and stared wide eyed into the green ones looking back at her. "Oh my god," she gasped.

"Holy shit," Emma mimicked, and without stopping to talk about what they had just done, or all the reasons why they shouldn't, she just reacted by lunging forward and kissing her again. The kiss was more insistent, more heated as her hands moved over every part of Regina's body she could reach. Needing to be closer, she found herself clawing at the brunette's thigh and pulling it up next to her own as she pressed further against her, and that's when she realized that somewhere between the rush of lips and tongues clashing and hands roaming, she had pushed Regina up against the nearby tree.

Emma finally drew back and inhaled deeply, as she gazed into the dark lidded eyes of the Mayor's.

"Are we really doing this here?" Regina whispered throatily, her tone thick with desire.

The blonde felt dizzy…dizzy with her own desire and how good it felt to kiss this woman…to finally really kiss her. She could vaguely feel a warm buzz float through the air, touching her skin everywhere. She wasn't sure if it was because Regina was such a good kisser or if it was because of the whole true love thing, so Emma stood speechless and just stared at the other woman.

Regina wouldn't mind the whole being ravished up against the tree, but why would they do that when in a matter of seconds they could be alone and in her bed? So without further ado, she decided for both of them and she smiled a very provocative smile as she moved in just enough to nip gently at Emma's soft lips. "Come," she beckoned, lacing her fingers with Emma's and then a swirl from her wrist they both vanished in a plume of purple.