Chapter 4

"I'd like a refund for my last session because your advice totally blew," Emma said from her seat on the couch across from Dr. Hopper.

Archie exhaled, "Ok, I take it your evening with the mayor didn't go very well?"

"Oh the evening went fine. The evening went fantastic. It was this morning that was an epic fail," she answered, crossing her arms in disdain. "And what the hell is going on around here? I had, like, four people come up to me just on the way to your office, talking about vivid dreams of some kind of past lives."

The doctor's face lit up with exasperation, "Wait, you too? I thought it was just me. You're actually lucky I was able to see you because I literally got booked up for the rest of the week from people wanting to talk to me about these very intense dreams that make no sense."

Emma's brow furrowed and she leaned forward to discuss a different disturbing matter than the one she'd previously come by for.

"You're booked through the week? What do you think is going on? Has the whole town been affected by some kind of weird mass hysteria?" she asked.

"Well, it can't be the whole town, you don't seem to want to talk about your dreams," he pointed out.

"No, I don't," she shook her head. "I actually slept really soundly last night."

She shook her head in disgust, realizing that she'd slept so soundly next to Regina.

"Did you have any strange dreams?" she asked him.

Archie's face seemed to close off, but he did offer up a small answer.

"Actually I did," he said. "It was brief but I remember I had some odd dream about walking into a cottage and seeing a set of dolls. The emotions were..." he wanted to say painful but this was her therapy session not his, "very raw. Anyway, that's not why we're here. We can discuss what's going on with the town in a professional capacity later. Right now, we need to focus on your reaction to what happened with Regina."

"Pfft," Emma guffawed, "you mean her reaction to waking up with me."

"So, you did sleep together?" he asked.

"Of course we slept together. Come on, Archie. Sometimes I think that the only time Regina and I make sense is when we're getting physical with each other; whether she's punching me or I'm kissing her."

"And things went wrong when the physical activity ceased?"

"Yeah, basically," she leaned forward and rested elbows on her knees, running one hand through her hair. "We had an amazing night; literally fell asleep in each other's arms. Then, boom, morning came."


Emma awoke to the sound of heels clicking on hard flooring of Regina Mills' bathroom. She was fully dressed in predictably conservative attire and putting on the finishing touches to her makeup.

"Hey, good morning," Emma said sleepily as she rubbed at her eyes and sat up in the bed.

"Good morning, Ms. Swan," Regina replied before applying her lipstick.

Seriously? You were inside my body last night; you can't call me by my first name this morning? She thought to herself.

Every single brick of the wall that she'd managed to tear down last night was back in place as much as the mayor's put-together appearance. Still, Emma tried to extend the intimacy.

"Hey, do you want to go with me to Granny's this morning?" she asked, putting her clothes on. "Maybe let me buy you breakfast as a thank you for such a nice evening?"

Regina exited the bathroom and looked at her as if she'd grown two heads.

"Ms. Swan, you've had no shower, are wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday and, though there isn't a hugely noticeable difference, your hair certainly looks like the product of a night of passion. The only place you need to be going now is home to make yourself presentable as Sheriff of this town."

"Gee, I'm glad I decided to speak to you before your morning coffee," Emma joked. "That was a great idea on my part."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're referring to," Regina responded.

But she did. She knew exactly what Emma was talking about. As soon as she'd woken up in the blonde's arms, Regina had retreated deeply back into herself. She was being short and cruel on purpose; only this time, it didn't feel good. And that scared her more than anything; causing the facade to grow to even greater heights.

Emma shook her head as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening. Was Regina truly capable of being that hot and cold all in one twenty-four hour period?

"You've got to be kidding me," she huffed to herself, jerking on one of her boots.

"About what?" Regina asked, ready for battle.

"Your bedside manner, Madame Mayor," Emma answered as she searched for the other boot.

"Oh come now, dear," she crossed her arms. "Surely you didn't expect breakfast in bed and some sort of pathetic back and forth on 'how wonderful life is now we're in each other's world'."

"No, but I didn't expect to simply be added to the notches on your belt marked 'Sheriff', right before being kicked out and told I'm dirty," Emma answered as she made her move toward the door.

"In all seriousness, Miss Swan, I hardly think this is the worst morning you've experienced after a night of passion."

The words were out of her mouth before she'd even had the chance to truly think them through. They were cruel, even for Regina and her face took on a brief, but shocked expression as she took them in.

Emma's face was shocked as well for a moment but the surprise rapidly turned to pain which she tried to mask with anger as soon as she realized it, but it was too late. Regina saw it. And she knew from those brief seconds that, with absolute certainty, this was not the worst morning Emma had experienced after a sexual encounter.

The blonde tore her eyes away from the brown ones that had looked so kindly upon her mere hours ago and focused on the door.

"Yeah, you're right about that, Madame Mayor."

There was something broken in her voice as she said the words and exited the house without a single look back.

Regina had pushed too hard and she knew it. Emma grew up in the foster system because of Regina's actions; the many different scenarios that crossed the mayor's mind as to what her insinuation might have awakened caused an ache to swell within her heart.

She'd simply meant to slow down the intimacy of the situation, not destroy the woman who'd shown her so much compassion.

There were so few times in her life that Regina had envisioned herself to be truly as evil as everyone in her old world believed her to be, but this was one of them. Emma had tried at every turn to make things work, even on a platonic level, between the two of them. And even when things became truly horrendous she was there to protect Regina. It made no sense for the older woman to try to push her away so forcefully, yet every part of her being felt the need to make it so.

Shaking all of the complicated thoughts out of her head she moved back to her mirror to finish preparing herself for her day when she heard her cell phone ringing from her nightstand. It was Kathryn, who was, at the moment, possibly her only friend.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Regina," the woman's voice sounded somewhat panicked. "I'm sorry to call you so early, but I just had the most disturbing dream and I just can't get it out of my head. Honestly it wasn't even like a dream; it was more like a memory."

Regina rolled her eyes and started to remember why she was so fond of not having friends.

"Kathryn, I know that dreams can be somewhat jolting but we must remember that they're not reality," she said, hoping to calm the woman enough so she wouldn't have to hear about it.

"I know, I know," she replied, trying not to seem like a raging maniac, "but it was so sad. I was in love with this man named Frederick and he sacrificed himself to save my father. And it was so strange because he somehow turned into gold."

Regina's entire body froze midway through putting on her jacket as she took in words that threatened to shatter her new reality.

"Can you repeat that?"


Exiting the bathroom within her apartment, Emma was still shaking her head as she tried to rid it of the memories of that morning. Her hair was still somewhat damp from the shower she'd just taken and she straightened out the tank top that world inevitably rest beneath her favorite red leather jacket.

"Good morning, sunshine," Mary Margaret said, handing her a cup of coffee and waiting to see if Emma was going to spill about why she was out all night.

"Yeah, right," Emma huffed, but thanked her friend with her eyes as she took the cup of coffee.

"Ok... Not-so-good morning?" the teacher inquired.

"Let's just say that I'm not ready to hear 'I told you so' just yet, but I think the moment of my acceptance will be coming much sooner than you might have anticipated."

"What did she do, Emma? Did she hurt you?" the brunette moved in closer, a sense of protectiveness washing over her.

"She did exactly what Regina always does. She acts nice one minute in order to get what she wants then, bam, she turns the tables and reverts back to the total emotional cripple that we all know and despise."

Mary Margaret's brow furrowed and her expressive eyes emoted genuine sympathy she put a hand over the blonde's.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I know that you were hoping the two of you could at least have a civil relationship with each other. Do you think that's off the table as well?"

"Who knows with her," Emma answered, shaking her head. "Anyway, how was your night? Anything special happen?"

"No, nothing really of note..." She answered, obviously holding something back.

Emma squinted her eyes at the teacher, "You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I mean," she tried to figure out how she wanted to word her next sentence. "It's just I had this ridiculously vivid dream about David."

Pulling back a bit, Emma commented, "Ok, before this runs into TMI territory I think I'm going to take my coffee to-go."

"No, it wasn't like that," Mary Margaret rolled her eyes before they, yet again, took on a faraway look. "You're going to laugh, but it was like he was some kind of prince and I was a bandit. I tried to steal from him, but he caught up to me... I called him Charming just to be difficult."

The teacher paused, letting the memory of a dream of a memory sink in over her before speaking again.

"It felt so incredibly real... I can't explain it."

Emma simply let a sweet smile cross her face as she clapped the other woman on the shoulder and prepared to leave.

"Maybe you were trying to steal him away and not his valuables," she joked. "Kind of your brain's way of dealing with all of the feelings you're having?"

Sighing, Mary Margaret nodded, "Probably so. Perhaps it's best I just forget about it."

"Nah, I wouldn't go that far," Emma said as she opened the door to leave and make her appointment with Dr. Hopper. "No reason to kill a memory of David being charming. It's not like it'll hurt anyone."

And with that Mary Margaret smiled and nodded to the sound of the door closing and leaving her alone with her thoughts.


"Ms. Swan, I think you and I both know that Regina is very closed off emotionally," Archie reasoned. "Given what you've told me I would imagine that her reaction had less to do with you and more to do with a situation that's very new to her."

"It's not that new to her, Dr. Hopper. I think the entire town is aware of her previous encounters with the last Sheriff of Storybrooke."

"Is that what the issue is?" he asked. "You're worried that this is simply a novelty to her? One that is easily replaced?"

"How am I not supposed to think that?" She asked.

He sighed, "I certainly can't speak for the mayor, Emma, but I truly don't think she'd be that fickle regarding you. You two have a very special relationship due to your connection to Henry. Even if she did just have a proclivity toward the position you hold, I don't think she'd risk unsettling the boy."

"Then why can't she just act like a normal human being and not this freakishly damaged tornado out to destroy every emotion in her path?"

"Perhaps because she has been emotionally damaged that much," Dr. Hopper offered. "I can't divulge information about Regina's past, partially because even I have been unsuccessful in getting her to talk about it, but I can tell you with a modicum of certainty that people aren't just born that way; things happen. Sometimes terrible things. And it takes a lot to get past that. I doubt one night of passion would suffice."

"And what if I'm just not cut out to deal with that level of pain?"

"Then you have to do what's right for you, Emma," he answered. "You can't be a savior to everyone in this town."

Something about his statement sent a chill up her spine. So much so that it threw her off of the entire point of the session.

"Speaking of which, let's get back to that whole dream thing that seems to be going around the town," she said.

"But your time isn't up. Don't you want to talk more about yourself?"

"Next time," she brushed it off. "What can you tell me about this? What do you think is going on?"

"It could be a lot of things," he explained. "Sure, mass hysteria is a possibility, but let's not jump to that conclusion just yet. Granny may not have had the freshest food on the menu, maybe it was a full moon, perhaps one person started it and everyone else just started wanting to be a part of the conversation. There are a lot of possibilities, but none of them seem to be dangerous at this point. Certainly nothing that would require the assistance of law enforcement."

Emma quirked her lips on one side and decided that he might be right but didn't let it go completely.

"Ok, I'll call off the troops for now but will you keep me updated on any influx of calls on this? I want to at least try to monitor it," she stood and put her jacket on. "Plus, I have to report my findings to our illustrious Mayor this afternoon because apparently she's somewhat perplexed by it as well."

"Before you go, Sheriff," Archie stood to stop her, "it's obvious that you're going to have to deal with the mayor no matter what's going on between the two of you on a sexual level, do you know how you're going to do that? What does she mean to you?"

Emma thought for a few minutes and one word, however ambivalent, simply would not leave her head. So, she simply expelled it with her mouth before exiting the doctor's office.

"Something."


"What the hell is going on?" Regina demanded as she stormed into Mr. Gold's shop.

"Madam Mayor," he stood at attention. "Always such a pleasure to witness your dynamic entrances."

"Uggh, do not patronize me today, Gold. I have no intention of sustaining it," she came right up to his counter and leveled an accusatory stare at him. "Why are they all having dreams about their former lives?"

"Can't help you there, dearie," he smiled, "this has got nothing to do with me."

"Then what is causing it and how do we stop it?" she asked, crossing her arms. "I don't think I have to tell you just exactly how much your interests would be compromised if the curse were fully broken. You've got a lot of enemies here, Gold. Possibly more than me."

"And I'm well aware of that but it still doesn't change the fact that I don't have a conclusive answer for you yet," his tone was becoming impatient. "Now, if you'll kindly stop launching threats my way we can talk about the most probable cause of these episodes."

"Which is?"

"There's only one kind of magic that this land has in common with ours: true love. So, unless you've stowed away some of your own magic and are using it right now just annoy me, I'd be looking for love in all the wrong places... Starting with Mary Margaret and David. They certainly seem to be getting close these days."

"Snow White," Regina spat as fire roared behind her eyes. "Of course, it's her. Only that oblivious little worm could possibly manage to ruin my life in two different worlds."

"And perhaps the mayor could make a visit to the school board and mention how lascivious it would seem to the children if they had a home wrecker for a teacher," he suggested. "Not enough to get her fired, mind you. If that happened then she'd have no reason left not go after Charming. No, just enough to threaten her livelihood so she stays away for her future prosperity."

"And ours," Regina said with a sadistic smile. "I must admit, Gold, I didn't know how useful you'd be in this form, but I forget that you're even more calculating than I am."

"What can I say? It's a gift and a curse," he tossed out the joke as if it were the bathwater. "Now, if our business is done here, I'd like to get back to not being in your presence, your Majesty. If you please."

Regina rolled her eyes and exited the shop with less anxiety than she'd entered it with and made her way to the office of the school board.


Emma took a deep breath before raising her hand to knock on the door of the mayor's office. It was literally the last place she wanted to be at the moment but she knew if she didn't show up to report to Regina about the strange things happening in town she'd have to deal with an even more uncomfortable meeting the next time they saw each other.

"Come in," Regina answered the knock from her desk as she filled out her paperwork.

Emma entered the office and closed the door before approaching the desk.

"Sheriff Swan," Regina addressed her with an air of narcissism. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Regina had completely forgotten about the fact that she'd requested Emma's presence concerning the dreams the townspeople were having. Thinking she'd gotten the problem under control with her little visit to the school board, she didn't really have need to think about it anymore. So, when she saw the blonde standing before her, she assumed it was because the sheriff simply couldn't keep herself away; and that pleased Regina greatly, no matter what she planned to do about it.

"You asked me here earlier today," Emma looked at her as if she'd gone insane and received a similar look in return. She decided to elaborate. "You wanted to discuss the mass dreams sweeping across Storybrooke. You seemed pretty adamant about it."

"Oh, right!" Regina said, standing and shaking her head in what Emma swore was embarrassment. "Of course. And what do you have to report?"

She moved toward the front of her desk and leaned back against it as she awaited the sheriff's findings.

"Well, I discussed it with Dr. Hopper and he seems to think that it's probably just a blip," Emma explained, stuffing her hands in her back pockets. "There are a lot of factors that could explain what's going on, but he doesn't seem to think any of them are dangerous at this point. I'd say our best bet is to simply monitor the situation and stay vigilant."

Regina nodded, noting that the blonde obviously wanted nothing to do with her or the conversation, and for some reason it caused a twinge of pain to run through her chest. It was the same ache she'd felt earlier that morning when she'd been so openly cruel to the woman. And she didn't know how to make it go away, so she simply focused on the matter at hand.

"Good, well, I'm sure you'll do a fine job of monitoring the situation and report back to me if it becomes more serious," the mayor said.

Emma looked at her quizzically.

Did she just give me a compliment?

"Right," Emma answered simply before turning to leave. "Well, if that'll be all...'

As the blonde made her way to the door Regina searched desperately for a reason for her to stay but all she could come up with was the truth; and before she could stop herself she was calling out to the girl.

"Actually that's not all, Sheriff," she said, not quite knowing what she was going to follow it up with when Emma turned back to await further instruction.

Regina's features started to look somewhat scared and vulnerable as she forced herself to follow up her statement.

"I owe you an apology for the way I handled things this morning," she started.

Emma waited for more to come forth from her mouth, but it seemed to be stuck, "Ok?" she prompted.

"So, I apologize," Regina stated as if she were placing an order for office supplies.

The blonde looked at her as if she couldn't be serious, but the mayor offered up nothing else for her to work with. Emma simply exhaled an annoyed breath and said "accepted" before moving to leave again.

"Wait, where are you going?" Regina asked, confused as to why they weren't well on their way to make-up sex at this point. Wasn't that how these things worked?

"Home," Emma answered, without looking back, and opened the door to leave.

"But I apologized," Regina asserted, moving swiftly to shut the door and move herself between it and Emma.

"And it was a shitty apology that I accepted."

"It was the first genuine apology I've given in," Regina stammered, "... in so long that I can't remember the last time I've actually given one."

"And that's something for you to discuss with Dr. Hopper; not me," The blonde pressed. "Now let me go."

"No," Regina argued.

"No? Really?" Emma pulled back and crossed her arms. "You're taking the town Sheriff hostage because she's doesn't want to hang out with you?"

"Ms. Swan I am trying here!" Regina protested indignantly.

"EMMA! Emma! My fucking name is Emma, Regina!" she stated, at wits end. "You had your tongue in my mouth last night and your hands all over me. You do not get to use me to sate some odd fascination you have for law enforcement officials, talk to me as if I'm a whore the next morning, give me some crappy apology for it and still create this verbal barrier between us by not saying my name!"

The blonde had closed the physical distance between them as she passionately spoke. So much so that Regina wondered if they were about to kiss because the only other alternative was that the blonde was about to head butt her and, though it was obvious she was hurt and angry, Regina knew that the sheriff would never intentionally hurt her. She simply wasn't like that.

"Emma," the name finally crossed her lips for the second time as she looked down in defeat. "Please don't go."

Green eyes bored into Regina's face as the blonde's jaw clenched and unclenched in frustration.

"Why do you want me to stay?" she asked.

Regina tried to meet her gaze, but it just wasn't going to be possible to do that and simultaneously answer the question. So she opted just to speak and take in a visual inventory of the semi shiny shoulder of Emma's jacket.

"Because I treated you horribly this morning and you didn't deserve it at all," she swallowed both a lump in her throat as well as her pride. "I am not an easy person to be around, as you well know Ms... Emma. I'm quite used to people running away from that. Graham certainly wanted no part of it outside of our arrangement."

She finally met the sheriff's eyes and continued.

"This thing, whatever it is, between us isn't there because you're the sheriff; it's there because you make me feel. And that's something that scares me. What I did this morning I did out of fear that these feelings that I have; that I like, would go away eventually because you would go away eventually. So, in order to keep control of the situation I pushed you away. I did so in a very cruel manner and when I saw that I'd hurt you... it hurt me."

Emma's brow had fallen midway through the mayor's speech. She couldn't believe the honesty that was being offered up to her by Regina Mills: Evil Queen of Henry's fairytale fantasies.

"That's why I wanted you to stay; even if you leave right now and never come back," the brunette finished and looked away; the emotions becoming too much for her. "I needed you to know that I am sorry for what I did because you mean... something... to me."

Emma looked down and let out a sigh of frustration, elation and confusion as she let the information settle in. Finally she looked back up and once again forced Regina to meet her gaze.

"Ask me what I want," she instructed the mayor.

Regina closed her eyes briefly and shook her head as she realized that she shouldn't have had to be prompted to do so, then looked back up at the sheriff and obeyed.

"What do you want, Emma?" she added the last part as an apology for how genuinely terrible she was at basic human interactions.

"I want you to stop playing games with me," she said; softly this time. "I want you to quit putting us on different sides in every aspect of our lives. I want you to look back on all of the times I've stood by you only to have my nose popped like a bad puppy in spite of my efforts and realize that I want to be a good thing in your life. I've been trying to do so for a long time. I want you to do all of these things because as strong as you may think I am, I have baggage too. Heavy, heavy baggage that exists within my past and because you already know that, you understand exactly how to hurt me and I can't take too many more punches like the one you threw this morning, ok?"

Regina looked down briefly in shame as she nodded and brought her head back up, "Ok."

"I also want you to know that I forgive you," Emma said as she moved her hands to gently hold Regina's face. "And I want to know if you want to kiss me right now as much as I want to kiss you."

A pensive smile made its way across Regina's face as she once again nodded her head, "I'd like that very much right now."

The blonde moved in to allow their lips to meet and, upon completion of their journey, felt a pulse of intensity rush through her. Regina felt it as well. In fact, the entire town did too. Regina moaned into the kiss as she allowed the gentle exploration that Emma was trying to open her up to. It was sweet and unhurried by the insistence of lust. The blonde didn't demand entrance into her mouth, she asked for it and it was granted by a more than willing host. Regina allowed herself to be filled and explored in a way that was more touching than arousing and she tried her best to reciprocate by following the example that had been so carefully laid out before her.

It was Emma who finally pulled back but as she did she felt a hand move up to gently stroke her face. It wasn't pulling her back; wasn't forcing any kind of will upon her, it was simply there on the basis of adoration. And, once again that day, she was completely floored by Regina's actions.

"You have got to be one of the most complicated people I've ever met, Regina Mills," she admitted. "I hope you're glad that I'm stubborn and don't like to give up on things I can't figure out."

"It's a gift and a curse," Regina mimicked Gold's words from earlier that day and allowed the bittersweet taste to linger in her mouth.

"Would you like to go to Granny's with me for some food?" she asked for the second time that day.

"I'd like that very much, Emma," Regina answered the right way this time.


All across town people were struck simultaneously with an odd sense of déjà vu. It wasn't something that everyone wanted to talk about but, sure enough, it was there. And the more they tried to grasp at what their minds were trying to tell them, the more they were brought back to the dreams they'd had just the night before.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you guys like it? Hate it? Are you indifferent to it? Let me know. I love feedback.