A/N: Another shorter one - sorry about that! Thanks for all the support again, it's very much appreciated:p
Enjoy!
To say the next couple of weeks had been awkward for the pair was an understatement. However, by the March of that year Emma and Regina's relationship had settled back into what it was before Christmas. Neither woman had commented on that night, or on Emma's behaviour at New Year's, and Henry was growing frustrated at the lack of progress in their relationship.
One bright morning, as the chill started to lift from the air, Henry announced that he wanted to go for a picnic.
"Aren't you a little old for that kind of thing, kid?" Emma frowned at the suggestion, suspecting that Henry, as usual, had an ulterior motive.
"I'm never too old to spend some time with my moms." Henry responded jokily, before being grabbed by Emma who gave him a hug so tight he fought to escape.
"You're a good kid, Henry." Emma chuckled into his hair, "you sort out the food, though, and make it good."
Later that day, after leaving the sheriff's station in the care of her father, Emma walked to Henry's castle to meet with him and Regina. She, like her son, was a little upset at the lack of progress in hers and Regina's relationship. After Christmas night, she thought that maybe something would happen; it was impossible to ignore the significance of Regina's gift and the suggestions that the last comment seemed to hold. Unfortunately though, Emma's uncharacteristic shyness around the mayor in her sobriety had prevented her from doing anything about her feelings, and so she had continued to shield her growing attraction to the woman.
Crossing over to a patch of grass to the side of Henry's castle, Emma smiled warmly at the sight of the object of her affections perching reluctantly in the middle of a picnic blanket, with a characteristic frown on her face.
"Where is Henry?" Regina asked as Emma crossed over to her.
"I thought he was coming with you?" Emma frowned as she lowered herself to the ground, crossing her legs as she did so.
"He told me he had something to do. I assumed he'd be with you." Regina noted with a deadpan expression.
"Well you assumed wrong." Emma misguidedly teased. "Oh look, he's texted me." Emma shifted under Regina's gaze, clicking on the new message alert on her mobile. " ' Sorry moms,' " she read aloud, "I forgot a really important homework project. Have the picnic without me. Henry xx' Unbelievable." Emma laughed slightly, replacing her phone in her pocket.
"You don't think he planned this, did he?" Regina asked, her brow furrowing at the idea that her son might have caught on to her feelings towards Emma.
"If I were a betting woman, I'd put money on it…" Emma laughed again at the audacity of their son, before opening the picnic basket and taking a plate. "Well, we're here now."
"That we are." Regina sighed, as she too took a plate and began to fill it with food. "I shall be having words with him about this when I get home."
"Is my company really that unbearable to you?"
"Perhaps," Regina responded drily, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile so alluring Emma could feel her breath catch in her throat.
"I love you too…" Emma added sarcastically, before coughing uncomfortably at the marked truth in her words. Regina too shifted in her position. "You, uh, alright over there?" Emma questioned, giving Regina a frowned look.
"Perfectly fine, dear. The ground is just a little uneven. I shall have to speak to somebody about flattening it out."
"That would be because you're normally sat up there," Emma explained, "watching your subjects from high above."
"Very amusing." Regina gave a slight sarcastic laugh, and as they continued their conversation both women noted internally the shift that had once again occurred in their relationship. It had been a lifetime since either of them was so comfortable around another person, and the flow of their conversation felt so relaxed and unforced that it was difficult for them not to continue it for hours.
Conversation eventually turned to their first impressions of each other.
"Well, I have to say I was surprised when I first saw you." Emma admitted, as Regina cocked an eyebrow as if to invite her to continue her thought, "I'd been told to expect the evil queen, I was expecting someone a little more… evil looking." Emma smiled, as her mind cast back to the attraction felt deep within her at her first glimpse at the other woman.
"Are you insinuating I can't be a formidable presence? Because I can assure you, my dear, you have no idea what I'm capable of." Regina echoed her own words from years before, this time conveying them in a tone so brewing with innuendo it was impossible for them not to be interpreted in an entirely different manner.
"I have no doubt about that." Emma smiled at Regina, "That's not to say I didn't think you were uptight, though, don't worry. I thought you were a major control freak." Emma offered by way of comfort. "So come on, what did you think of me?" she asked.
"Truthfully?"
"You're speaking to an officer of the law. I'm expecting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
"I hated your jacket from the first moment I saw it." Regina admitted, pointing a finger in the direction of Emma's trusty leather jacket, folded neatly next to her.
"You've got to be kidding. It's a classic!" Emma sounded horrified, hitting Regina lightly on the arm.
"My hatred for it is the only thing classic about it, Emma, that I can assure you."
"Well, it's all coming out now!" Emma exclaimed in a horrified manner, and signalled for Regina continue, silencing herself and absent mindedly picking at the grass to the side of her.
"I thought you were… attractive, admittedly." Regina smiled to herself, avoiding Emma's gaze. "Brash, headstrong, at times downright idiotic. I couldn't deny, however, that at times I felt a certain… I felt drawn to you. You reminded me of myself, possibly more than I cared to admit, and there was always a part of me that wished we could have met under different circumstances."
"You're glad we did though? Meet." Emma clarified.
"Of course, Emma. Our friendship is something which I've grown to value very highly in my life, especially in the past couple of months."
"Me too." Emma smiled once again at Regina, this time pausing to ensure that she caught Regina's gaze directly. "You're very important to me, Regina. Henry or no Henry."
Regina felt herself almost begin to blush under Emma's watchful gaze, and so she distracted herself by picking up her wine glass and beginning to refill it, before doing the same to Emma's.
"Only half full?" Emma questioned as Regina finished filling her glass.
"I do not want a repeat performance of New Year's. As charming as you may be while under the influence, I'm not ready for another drunken lunge just yet."
"Probably a good idea. What are we toasting?" Emma asked, taking her glass back from Regina.
"The future. And whatever it may bring."
"To the future." Emma echoed, clinking her own glass against Regina's.
A/N: Don't forget to review!