Regina filled the shopping basket with fireworks as she finished browsing the store and used her magic to activate the till. She swiped her card through the reader then re-locked the till before leaving. This was it. The last day.
She was a little scared. If she failed to destroy the mirror or couldn't undo the curse she would be all alone. She knew she couldn't let Emma wake until she had succeeded. Of course, if she completely failed, the mirror might stop her from ever being able to wake Emma.
"Focus on the positives." She told herself, trying to shake off the dark thoughts. "Today… Today you and Emma have a chance to do anything you want and no-one will ever know."
She had told Emma she wanted to have fireworks. She always allowed Henry to go to the Storybrooke annual fireworks show, usually with another family from his school or with Graham, while she went to the office to work. There was something about the fireworks that reminded her of the crackling, lightning-spark magic her mother had used and she refused to attend. Now though, she wanted to see what she had been missing. As fireworks weren't at their most effective until it was dark, they had several hours to spend as they liked. Emma had come up with a few suggestions as well.
At the end of the day, Regina was exhausted. They retired to the diner for a final dinner, sharing the cooking and tossing the plates into the dishwasher.
"Just wait until Ruby sees it!" Emma crowed. "I'll bring Henry here for breakfast first thing… Perhaps you could join us?"
"As long as you explain that youfixed it."
"I couldn't have done it without you. You can tell Henry all about it."
"Including your first attempts at cooking eggs?"
"Well, maybe we'll just remember the good stuff. Speaking of …what are you doing with the evil mirror?"
Regina switched the dishwasher on, careful not to let Emma see her face. "Don't worry, I'm taking care of it."
"It's too early for the fireworks yet. Do you want to go and get a drink?"
"My place or yours?"
"Neither. For the last day of our little imprisonment I think we should celebrate at the bar."
"The Rabbit Hole?"
Regina had been there once, at the beginning of the curse. She had been curious, wanting to see if it was anything like the taverns she had visited after perfecting her magical disguise. It was and it wasn't.
"It's not bad for a bar. There's a pool table, or we could play darts…." Emma suddenly grinned as she remembered. "…How do you feel about karaoke?"
A lot of cider later, and a few alcoholic drinks Emma expertly mixed with apple juice, and Regina was standing on the small stage in front of a microphone. She didn't know most of the songs listed, so Emma stood next to her singing the first verse to teach her the tune. Emma was laughing as she sang, getting into the song and swaying to the music. As she nudged the microphone closer to Regina, the ex-mayor looked around for a way down from the stage. Seeing the look of panic on her face, Emma grabbed her arm and slid her other hand under Regina's elbow so their arms were linked.
"There's gotta be one song you know." She told Regina. "You just have to let go and sing. No-one can hear you, no-one cares if you forget half the words and don't look at the lyrics on the screen. Karaoke is just about having fun and letting out your emotions into the words."
"You sound like you've done this before."
"Of course. Sometimes singing is just as much fun battling a bounty to the ground and getting them back to face whatever bail they skipped out on. You just put the same sort of energy into singing as you would… the same as you would to horse riding." Emma quickly amended what she had been about to say. "Take another drink and come look through the song list. Just one song, then we can go watch the fireworks."
Regina knew she needed the night to end with Emma trusting her so that she could get close enough to enact the sleeping spell.
"Very well, but not on that machine. I refuse to act like…that." She waved her hand and a piano appeared. "I will sing one song, a very short song, from back in our world."
She released her arm from Emma's and sat her down on the chair at the piano.
"Can you play?" Emma asked.
"Of course. Musical talent is something encouraged among noble families." Regina ran her hands along the keys and smiled at the perfect sounds. "Now, just listen because this is the only time you will ever hear me sing."
It had a haunting melody. Emma tried to follow the words but she was too busy turning her head between the way Regina's fingers played across the piano and her face as she sang, to pay it complete attention. She had goosebumps along her arms when Regina's hands came to rest in their final position.
"There." Regina sighed in satisfaction at completing the task. "Please don't say anything. Let's just go and light the fireworks."
Emma didn't want to speak, she didn't want to spoil the moment with words, so she just nodded. She wanted to tell Regina exactly what she was thinking, but when she tried she couldn't find the words.
AN: So, what do you think? I know, there's a couple of hours between buying fireworks and the karaoke, maybe I'll write something for that later. Still have a couple of ideas I want to write out for other days first.