Alright here we go! One order of amnesiac wives going on a date coming right up! More than 5,000 words of it!
I hope everyone likes this, it was a total blast to write it!
Also my knowledge of wines is very very limited, so everyone can just nod and pretend I'm a wine connoisseur, and totally know what I'm talking about and we'll all end up happy.
Emma took a deep breath, hoping that she wasn't setting herself up for a night of disaster. She looked once more at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled at what she saw. Despite the years that had gone by, she was still rocking her body, and could pull off looking stunning in a dress effortlessly. Despite her tendency to dress for mobility and practicality, she could clean up nicely, and hoped that Regina would be impressed.
What Emma was banking to floor her hopefully-not but potentially soon-to-be ex-wife was the upgrade with her car. Thankfully that tragic night they had both been in a cruiser, so Emma's actual car was intact for this.
She twirled the car keys and grabbed her clutch. Making sure that she had everything, she went downstairs where her parents and little Neal were waiting, looking a lot like a family seeing someone off to war. Granted, going on a date with an amnesiac ex-Evil Queen didn't exactly sound like a walk in the park. But Emma wouldn't let her nerves get the best of her. She had done this once before, she could certainly do it again.
"Well, I'm off," Emma declared, standing in front of the trio, trying to show the bravado that she didn't have.
"Goo' luck!" Neal piped up, grinning widely up at her. He wasn't even aware of what was really going on, but that didn't stop the toddler from trying to cheer on his big sister.
Emma grinned right back at him, and kneeled to give him a big hug.
Once she stood back up, Mary Margaret tried to give her an assuring smile. "Don't worry if everything doesn't work out. This is going to be temporary, I'm sure once you and Regina get your memories back, you two will go right back to being married."
Emma took a deep breath, thinly-veiled disbelief all over her face. "I hope so."
"Well at least you'll be outside of Storybrooke, so Regina won't be able to fireball you." David added good-naturedly.
"I didn't pick something outside of Storybrooke because of that. I just wanted something nice, and Storybrooke doesn't exactly offer that."
David hummed, and then said, "Well I hear Tiana is trying to get the permits approved so she can get her restaurant up and going."
Emma chuckled, "I don't really have time for bureaucracy to take care of that."
Both her parents smiled at that, and Mary Margaret then saw the time and started to shoo her out. "Now go go, you only have 10 minutes, you don't want to be late! First impressions are everything! Though I suppose you two are on your third first impressions by now."
Regina was almost ready. After spending an eternity and a half searching for a perfect dress - not that she was being picky about what to dress for this date; no, she just felt like she had to be at her most presentable that's all - she was now trying to find a purse. All of her things had shifted from before to where they were now, and she was sure a certain blonde moving in was the cause of that. So searching for things proved to be extra difficult.
After a bit of rummaging she found one. Opening it, she checked the pockets for any leftover receipts or papers she might've forgotten, and was curiously faced with an epi-pen. To say she was puzzled would be an understatement. Neither she nor Henry were allergic to anything, so why did she have it?
Just before she was going to discard it, she heard the doorbell ring. Deciding that she would dispose of it later, musing that there probably had to be a proper way to throw it out, and in a rush right now was not the answer. She threw it back in the purse and got her things ready, taking a deep breath.
Just a couple of hours of dealing with Emma Swan and then she could go back to her normal life.
It'd be over before she knew it.
Emma was standing in front of Regina's porch, after having just rung the doorbell, waiting. Granted she could just invite herself in, seeing as she had a key that she was sure would open the door in front of her, but right now, she wasn't in the role of Emma Swan-Mills, she was just Emma Swan, trying to win her wife back, despite feeling just as lost and discombobulated about this entire fiasco as Regina.
The door opened and her smile faltered as she saw Henry opening the door, instead of her date.
"Not that I'm not glad to see you kid, but where is your mom?"
Henry grinned at her as if he knew a secret. "She's changing, of course, she's been taking apart her closet for the past half hour."
Emma couldn't help but grin in return. Regina Mills was raiding her closet to find something suitable to wear for a date with her? This gave her a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, Regina wasn't out to be the impossible date in order to get a stack of freshly signed divorce papers on her desk tomorrow morning. Maybe she was giving this a chance.
"Aren't you going to at least come in? This is your house too you know?" Henry's voice brought Emma out of her musings and she looked at her teenage son.
"Right, of course." This was the first time she had been in here since the accident, and she had to school her features to not let her jaw drop too much. There were pictures everywhere of the three of them, and she could see, even in just the ones closest to her, that they were happy. They were a family, the one thing all three of them had always wanted and dreamed of.
"Ms. Swan, you're early." She whipped around at hearing Regina's voice, and she had to double her efforts in keeping her jaw in place, because damn was she gorgeous.
"I uhm, yeah, I wanted to make sure I was on time." Emma grinned, taking in the beauty before her.
Regina was clad in a midnight-blue dress that brushed her knees, and sparkled with sequins and glitter. The brunette made her way down the rest of the stairs, sashaying her hips, and stood in front of her date, a playful smirk quirking at her lips at seeing the slack-jawed expression Emma was sporting.
After a few moments, Emma broke out of her reverie, and smiled. "Ready?"
Regina nodded, and then looked at her son. "Now remember-"
Henry sighed and rolled his eyes, before reciting, "Don't open the door to anyone, don't go out unless you have a very good reason, and if so - leave a note so that you know, no staying up playing video games, finish my homework, and no parties."
Regina was impressed. Granted the last point was new, but then again, Henry was 3 years older than what she remembered. She only hoped that the need for that rule was precautionary, rather than to prevent a repeating incident. "And call me if you need anything."
He grinned as he responded, "Don't worry mom, I have both your numbers on speed dial."
It took Regina a second to remember that despite her saying 'me', Henry took it to mean Emma as well. It was going to take some getting used to. She went to give Henry a quick kiss on his forehead, and then he went upstairs to his room, not before giving Emma a quick hug, leaving both women standing alone in the foyer.
"So, shall we get going?" Emma asked, holding out her arm for Regina to take.
Regina ignored the offered arm and leveled her date with a glare. "Ms. Swan, we might be amnesiac right now, but I have not turned into an idiot. So don't think for a second that I will enter that death trap you call a car anytime soon."
"Well, Your Majesty, if you were to look outside for a minute, you'll be happy to note the 'death trap' has retired." Emma smirked, moving her arm back down. Check and mate.
"Oh." Regina at least had enough grace to look a bit flustered at that.
Feeling emboldened, Emma asked, "Can I request something?"
Regina cocked her head in surprise. This was new. "No guarantees it'll be granted, but yes."
"Can you drop the whole 'Ms. Swan' thing? Honestly, we're going to a date, and I know it's a defense mechanism for you, calling people by their last names, but it's just going to be the two of us, and of course a couple hundred strangers." Emma hoped that her puppy-dog eyes worked their charm.
Regina felt a pang as she remembered the memory from the first night after the accident, how Emma said the same thing about the whole defense mechanism. When had she become so easy to read? But she supposed she could acquiesce with this for tonight. "Very well, Emma."
Emma grinned like a child at that, and held her arm out again. "Now come on, we need to get to the restaurant in time."
Regina took the arm, albeit a bit reluctantly at first, as she let the words sink in, and from what Emma had said before. Where in the world were they going?
15 minutes later and Regina saw the approaching orange line. Emma was taking them out of town for this? She was silently impressed.
The ride had been quiet up till now, looks were sneaked when they thought the other wasn't looking, but both women could tell when they were being looked at, and they both shyly smiled every time.
The second after they passed the line, Regina let out a sharp hiss. Although she tried to play it off with a cough, Emma noticed and veered off to the shoulder before braking immediately, twisting to look at her companion. "Are you okay?"
Regina just nodded, trying to wave off the worry. "Yes dear, I'm fine."
Emma didn't believe that for a second, and touched Regina's upper arm gently, getting the brunette to look at her. In the softest voice she could muster, she said, "No you're not. Is this about the town line crossing?"
Knowing she was not going to fool the ever infallible lie detector, she sighed and said, not daring to look at Emma's eyes, "Just passing over the town line rips my magic away quite forcefully, that's all."
"Oh." Emma said, always with the lack of tact, not missing Regina's refusal to look her in the eyes. She knew she should at least try to show Regina that she was sorry about it. "I'm really sorry Regina, I didn't know. Should I have driven slower?"
Regina shook her head. "No, it's alright. I just...magic has always been a big part of me. Having it taken away with such a force is like having a band-aid ripped away quickly. I'll be fine in a bit."
Emma rubbed Regina's arm unconsciously, drawing lazy circles with her thumb. "If you say so. But if you start feeling nauseous or want me to turn around just let me know, okay?"
Regina nodded, shooting a small grateful smile. Who'd have thought Emma Swan would prove to be so caring? Wait, she must not be thinking straight, since when was she calling Emma caring? Probably must be a side effect from passing through. It was only then that she noticed Emma's hand on her arm. She cleared her throat and took her arm back.
Emma for her part just cleared her throat as well and went back to driving, neither wanting to address what had just happened. So after a few minutes, she asked, "So, why does it affect you so much? I mean, for all intents and purposes I have magic too, but I don't feel anything."
"I believe it must be because you're not so attached to magic as I am. For me, magic is like another sense. Imagine if you lost one of your senses, it'd feel different, don't you think?"
The blonde hummed, and nodded. "Yeah, makes sense."
The brunette thought about it for another second, and added, "I imagine it's also because you grew up in this world. Although Storybrooke was without magic for 28 years, the air is still very different than what this world is like."
Emma just nodded once more and continued driving, falling into that awkward silence for the umpteenth time so far.
After a few more minutes, the blonde cleared her throat and stole a glance towards Regina. "By the way, you look gorgeous."
Regina felt her face heat up with the strength of a hundred suns. "Th-thank you," was the shaky reply, before adding, taking the opportunity to look at Emma's heart-stopping red dress, "You look beautiful as well."
Now both women were blushing, desperately looking anywhere but each other.
By the time they reached the restaurant, they were glad for the distraction, neither were sure how they would survive one more minute inside the car. But they couldn't say they had found reprieve quite yet, after all, they were headed into a restaurant for their date.
Emma went to help Regina out of her car, once more offered an arm, and much to her surprise, the brunette once more took said arm, and they walked into the restaurant together. The blonde held the door open for Regina to pass through, earning a shy 'thank you' in response.
The lady inside the restaurant flashed a smile at them, standing behind her podium. "Welcome to the Lake House. Do you have a reservation?"
Emma nodded. "Yep, it should be under Emma Swan."
The lady went to check on her list, and found the name. With a nod she looked at something else on her podium, and then grabbed two menus. "Alright, follow me."
In no time at all they were seated across from each other in a quiet booth, soft light illuminating the area around them, with background music and muffled conversations making up the ambience sound.
"Good evening, and welcome to the Lake House, record-holder of being Maine's most exquisite destination for fine seafood. My name is Vincent, and I'll be your server. Can I get you ladies started on any drinks?" The waiter, a young man dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, completed with a pristine vest, stood in front of their table, waiting for their response.
Emma looked at the woman sitting across from her. Was she expected to choose, would they each choose their individual drinks, or should she just let Regina choose? She went for the vague answer, one that would provide ample time for Regina to butt in if she wanted something different, and also didn't explicitly say whether she was ordering for herself or both of them. "Uhm, some wine would be great."
Vincent clearly assumed she was speaking for both of them as he replied, "Very well, what kind would you ladies prefer?"
Giving Regina a loaded look, the older woman took the hint and responded, "Some Pinot Grigio would be excellent."
The waiter bowed his head a bit and left them to fetch the beverage and leave them time to choose their meal.
After a few seconds of silence - a quite common occurrence during this date so far - Emma said, "Sorry if it seemed like I was choosing for you, but I know you like some good wine and I figured you would otherwise have just corrected me and ordered the drink you wanted."
Thankfully, it seemed Regina hadn't minded. "It's quite alright, I'd have considered it as such if you had ordered everything by yourself, but I assumed from your glare you were relegating the other half of the choosing to me, so I consider it to have been a fair choice."
Emma smiled and went back to looking at her menu. Maybe, just maybe, this will be able to work out.
After they finished placing their orders, Emma took a small sip of her wine, feeling bold enough to start a conversation.
"This feels weird, huh?"
Regina, who had been doing a stellar job of admiring the entire restaurant and ignoring the woman in front of her, now looked towards her date with a raised eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"You, me, this date, the fact we both have amnesia?" Emma clarified. She then sighed and continued, "This is the kind of things you see on TV shows, or -or..."
"Fantastical stories?" Regina supplied with a smirk.
Emma smiled at that. "Yeah, that too."
Regina was the first to get our of her reverie, and responded with, "Well I completely agree, which was why I was trying to get you to sign those papers. Despite all that my house, our own son, and everyone in that town is blaring, I don't feel married to you. I feel..." Here she paused, before shaking her head and continuing. "Never mind. The point is, that we have to stop kidding ourselves. I have no idea why we married or how we fell for each other, and perhaps if or when we get our memories back, it'll make sense, but for now this feels like a farce. Or since you don't like that word, an arrangement."
It was true, Emma didn't like the word 'farce' coupled with their supposed marriage, but she supposed that for Regina, that's what she thought about this. She swallowed hard as she processed everything the woman across from her had said. "Then what happens after I sign the papers? We just go our separate ways and wait for our memories to come back?"
"Precisely." She knew Emma wasn't happy with this idea, she could just see it in the hazel eyes that were staring at her with a mix of confusion and hurt, along with the slightest bit of anger mixing in. The ring, the one Emma still wore, was glinting under the warm light, and it took everything in her power to not look at it, to not feel guilty for not wearing her own as well. Emma was in the exact same position as her, but the blonde was making an effort, she was trying to see this marriage as an actual thing. But for Regina, this reminded her too much of her marriage to Leopold. Once more she found herself married to someone, and that discombobulated feeling from having decisions thrust on her without her consent was something she never wanted to experience again. Although Emma was the farthest thing from Leopold, and she hoped there was no nefarious plan behind this, she can't help but wonder, and worry.
Before they could say anything else, their food had arrived.
"Bon Appetit," Vincent smiled after setting down the plates, leaving the two women with their steaming plates of food, and a tension in the air that would need an industrial sized saw to cut through it.
The two got ready to dig in, and Emma asked, "And what are we supposed to tell Henry?"
"The truth of course. He is a teenager now, I'm sure he'll understand," Regina shrugged the matter off, grabbing her utensil and digging into the lobster.
Emma watched as Regina did the impossible, eating a lobster with grace. Grabbing her fork, Emma was about to start eating her own, but paused, staring at Regina, despite the fact that the woman was focused on her own plate. "He might understand, but that doesn't mean he'll be happy about it. He was devastated when I told him about the divorce papers..."
Now Regina did look up, and her glare was all Evil Queen. She leaned a bit forward towards Emma and hissed, "I would've expected it from the Charmings, but are you seriously stooping so low as to try to use Henry against me so we will remain married?"
The blonde paused, mouth partially open ready to take her first bite. She put the fork down a bit and her eyes widened. "What? No! No Regina, I would never do that to you-"
"Oh really? Isn't that the entire purpose of this date? To force me into still being with you?" Regina asked with a scowl.
"No it's not!" Emma sighed, putting her fork down once more, for the third time. At this rate her food was going to get cold. "Look, this date was because I was hoping that maybe, having the two of us in a vaguely romantic setting would maybe get you to reconsider the divorce papers, but like I said, if at the end of tonight you tell me your mind hasn't changed, I'll accept it and give you the papers tomorrow morning as promised. I'm not going to hold you against your will to get you to drop those papers." Emma then smirked as she added, "Not that I think I'd be able to, you'd roast me before I even tried."
Regina had to return the smirk with an amused chuckle. Then she grew serious again as she asked, "Then what did you mean in regards to Henry?"
"Despite him being a teenager...having the home situation change drastically isn't easy for any kid." Emma here was speaking from experience, remembering just how she felt every time she was sat down by her current foster parents and told she had to go back. "So I'm just saying that we should try to phrase it in such a way that it doesn't seem like we're not considering the fact that he'll be affected or hurt by this."
Regina thought about it for a couple of seconds while Emma finally managed to start eating. She was about to open her mouth to give her two cents, when she hear Emma's fork clatter on the plate.
Something was wrong.
Specifically in regards to Emma.
She was choking.
She was banging on the table and scratching at her throat wildly, eyes wide open with a half-crazed look on them.
Regina barely managed to snap out of her reverie and yelled out, "She's choking! Someone help!"
Chaos erupted around them as she scrambled out of her seat and went to the other side of the booth to get Emma closer to the mouth of the booth so the table wouldn't be restricting her. Emma meanwhile was red in the face as her arms and hands made wild gestures like she was trying to thump out the food in her throat. She was starting to break out in hives, lips becoming puffy as her air supply was becoming dangerously low.
Some other patrons were trying to help, calling 911.
"Does anyone have an epi-pen?" Someone yelled out, and Regina remembered the little stick in her purse. She fumbled wildly for it, before she found it, grabbed the pen, and in a few seconds, she injected the contents into Emma's leg.
The scene calmed down as Regina took Emma into her arms, and they practically collapsed into one of the booth's seats. Emma was shaking in her arms, taking in long gulps of air. Regina meanwhile had one arm rubbing slow circles on Emma's arm, while the other stroked her hair.
After a few minutes, the paramedics arrived.
So much for a quiet and relaxed dinner.
After nearly 2 hours of fussing and check-ups with the paramedics, Emma and Regina were on their way back to Storybrooke, Regina was driving this time, and Emma was like a ragdoll, feeling like her body was all out of sorts.
They had hardly spoken, except for Regina's periodic 'how are you feeling?' only to get a curt monosyllabic response from the blonde.
Emma looked at Regina, noting how tense the brunette seemed. She had royally fucked up. When in the world had she become allergic to shellfish? Though she supposed it wasn't recent, seeing as Regina had an epi-pen in her purse, as she was later informed. "Thanks."
Regina gave a quick glance to the blonde. This was the first time in an hour that Emma had prompted to start the conversation, but she was confused, "For what?"
Emma shrugged, looking out the window. "Everything really. Having the epi-pen, keeping me company to the point of not leaving my side, and calming me."
Regina sighed, and they once more veered to the shoulder as she stopped the car. She looked at Emma, and put her hand on the blonde's chin, getting Emma to look at her. "Look, Emma, despite everything we've been through, I do care about you. From where our memories left off, I would like to think that we were beginning to have a friendship, as well as being two parents trying to raise their child. Despite my feelings towards your parents, please don't think that you are automatically also held in that regard. You are one of the few people, the other being Henry, who actually believes that I can change - or has changed. Besides, you were going through anaphylactic shock, you can't honestly think I'd have left you."
Emma smiled, but her mind was already preparing a list of all the foster parents and then-friends who had left her while she bled from wounds, vomited, had a cold, among a whole slew of other examples. None were life-threatening, but it still led Emma to believe people didn't really care about the ailments of others in general. "But still, thanks. I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you have an epi-pen? Is Henry allergic to something?" Knowing her luck, Emma would be unaware that her son would have severe allergies.
But Regina shook her head. "Not that I know of. I actually found it in my purse, and had been thinking of throwing it out, but you rang the bell and I decided I'd do it later."
The blonde chuckled. "Well then, I'll be thanking my good timing for saving my life - for once. So does that mean I've had this before?"
"I would guess so," Regina replied, though she hated that it seemed like it was the case. Going through this once must be hard enough on Emma. But twice? "You weren't allergic to shellfish before?"
"Not that I know of. Then again, I was never the type to eat lobster too often, so perhaps it's been the case for a while but I never realized it because of that."
"I see."
Once more the silence settled, and Regina went back to driving.
When they were nearing Storybrooke, Emma looked over to Regina, "I can drive through the line if you want."
"It's quite alright dear, I'll be fine."
Emma wasn't sure if Regina was just acting, but there was no reaction from the brunette as they crossed the town line. The car didn't swerve, and she didn't even flinch or make a peep.
Regina broke the silence by saying, "I will drop you off at the Charming's apartment and you can pick up the car tomorrow."
"Wait what? Regina I'm perfectly capable of driving."
"Please dear, don't insult my intelligence. I will not, in good conscience, allow you to operate this vehicle or any other, and I have to get back home somehow."
"Then just park the car at your house and I'll walk over."
"Honestly, what is your problem with me dropping you off?"
Instead of answering right away, Emma sighed, and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. Then, in the meekest voice Regina had heard Emma speak in, she said, "I'd rather not have to answer my parent's third degree over how the date went."
And then Regina understood, and she changed course. "I have guest rooms available, you can sleep there tonight."
Emma whipped around to look at Regina, and flashed a grateful smile, though she was sure the brunette wouldn't see it. "Thanks."
Regina did.
As soon as Emma was shown the room, Regina asked if she needed anything.
"No, I'm good." Emma bit her lip as she saw the brunette nod and make her way out of the room. "Wait, actually..."
"Yes?" Regina came to stand once more in front of the blonde, taking note of the lip biting.
"About tonight...I know it was a disaster, and I won't even ask you for your verdict, but since I obviously don't have the papers to sign now, they'll be a bit late. You'll still get them tomorrow though. Is that okay?"
"No, it's not."
Haaaa okay who had seen the allergic reaction coming?
I know, I'm evil for the ending. Next chapter will be the past date!
Also big plot solution to another [secondary] problem was revealed in the chapter, can you guess what it was? Hint: the problem was revealed in a flashback.
As for other fic updates, next up is The Things We've Lost, and then a one-shot!