This is going to be a fairly short chapter as I've got quite a few exams this week, but I hope you like it! Thank you endlessly to everyone who's been reviewing/following this story, you're angels.
Zelena shot the younger woman a warm smile, before leaning in to whisper quickly in her ear. "She won't know who you are, you look like a train wreck I promise." She breathed. Emma stuck her tongue out, not even trying to fight the other woman on her comment about Emma's appearance. Emma tried to imagine what she must look like with her tear streaked makeup and smudged lipstick and shuddered.
Regina slammed the door behind her on her way into the car, eliciting a groan from her blue-eyed sibling. "Regina." Zelena greeted rather rigidly, glancing back at the brunette.
"Zelena." Regina responded in the same tone, noticing Emma's presence a few moments later. "I didn't know you had... friends?" Her voice was a mixture of confusion and something Emma couldn't distinguish.
"Yes, dear, this is Em-Elsa. Elsa." A sly smile settled on her delicate features, making Emma grin in return, hazel eyes meeting ice blue.
"Elsa? She was named after a character from Frozen?" Regina inquired, her eyebrow raised slightly.
"If I'm not mistaken, our relative ages would suggest it would be the other way around." Emma smirked. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"That would be because I didn't drop it, darling." Her tone was uninterested as she pulled a gold iPhone out of her black Chanel tote, scrolling lazily with manicured fingers. "If you must know, I'm Regina."
"Queen," Emma remarked, finally realizing where she'd heard the name before.
"Excuse me?" Regina gazed over to the blonde, confused.
"Your name, it means Queen." Emma spoke flatly. Upon seeing the lack of recognition in the brunette's chocolate eyes, she sighed, continuing. "Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae."
Zelena spoke the next few lines of the prayer, her eyes staring at the road ahead with a sadness in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Emma. "Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte."
"Religious foster home?" Emma sighed, sympathy in her eyes.
"Unfortunately yes. Yourself?" Zelena forced a weak smile.
"One. I was with them for two years." The small woman's voice was barely over a whisper. "Surely you've heard the Salve, Regina before?" Emma spoke louder now, glancing back at Regina. "Regina is latin for Queen."
"I suppose it is." There was a wistfulness to Regina's speech that caught both women off guard. The car slowed to a stop and Zelena turned off the ignition, turning to face Emma.
"This is the right place, yes?" She asked.
"Yes it is," Emma smiled, "I'll call you tomorrow if that's alright with you."
"That would be wonderful." She pulled the blonde into a hug and turned the car back on, unlocking the doors. Emma stumbled out, pulling her bag with her and watched as the tail lights disappeared into the distance. It had been barely thirty minutes and already the Mills girls were like a drug to her; a breath of fresh air amidst the dirt and smoke of her life. Zelena was respectable, but her eyes betrayed a vulnerability that Emma knew all too well came from years of suffering. Regina, on the other hand, was completely unreadable, and something about her intrigued the young woman more than she'd care to admit.