Regina sat at her designated spot at the council meeting listening to Emma give her report on the up tick in crime and how additional resources would not only help, but also keep department overtime down. She had to admit Emma was doing a pretty good job of stating her case. She seemed nervous when she first started talking but now it was going better.

She tried not to stare at the sheriff. Tried not to think about sitting and talking with on Saturday night or placing that kiss on her cheek. She tried, but was failing.

Finally, she tore her eyes from Emma. This was her fault entirely; there was no debate about that.

Of all the people to see at the bar when she went out as Sara, it had to be Emma Swan. She couldn't deny that her attraction to the blonde was immediate. While Henry's birth mother showing up had set off warning bells in her head, she couldn't help but also give her a few appraising looks. The woman was simply all together sexy.

But she was also aggravating as all get out.

Emma had broken her curse. Emma had essentially stolen her son from her. Emma even managed to wreck the one relationship she tried to have since Daniel by bringing Robin's wife back.

Yet, Regina had to admit that beyond Henry, the curse hadn't really made her happy. Henry was really want mattered and both she and Emma realized that which is why they now had an amicable custody arrangement that allowed them to share the parenting responsibilities. And at the this point, even Tink was willing to admit that something – whether it was Emma going back in time or Regina initially rejecting the idea of soul mate Robin – was amiss with the whole fairy dust pair up.

Things had settled down between her and Emma.

But that didn't mean that Regina would ever dare to do with Emma what she had done as Sara. There was no way she as Regina could just be like with Emma.

As Sara though, she could be that way. She could be relaxed and talk about things she enjoyed without the pressure of being Regina Mills.

"Madame Mayor?"

Regina awoke from her musings, realizing someone was addressing her. It was the council president. She vaguely recalled him asking her, her opinion on the ordinance.

"The sheriff makes very valid points," Regina said. "Frankly we can't afford to do nothing because the problem isn't going to go away and it's not going to get better. I urge you all to consider that and give the ordinance a passing vote so Em … Sheriff Swan can begin the process of hiring new officers and getting them out on the streets."

…

While Emma almost laughed when Regina was clearly caught daydreaming, she was grateful when the mayor addressed council on her behalf. She couldn't believe Regina had almost called her Emma as well. That was one thing she wouldn't mind seeing in the official council minutes. Or even in a headline in tomorrow's paper, "Mayor finally called sheriff, Emma."

All joking aside she was pleased when the council gave her a unanimous vote to add all four officers. She waited around a bit until Regina was done talking with other members of council after the meeting ended. She caught up to her at the door and walked with her toward the parking lot.

"I just wanted to say thank you for all your help," Emma said. "I am not sure that would have gone as smoothly if you hadn't had helped me out like you did."

"Somehow I believe you would have been just fine on your own, but you are welcome all the same. How long do you think it will be before you can hire the officers?'

"I don't know. I have a couple of people in mind who might work out, but I need to get the job description posted at the station, city hall and in the newspaper as well. I hope it won't be too long of a process. If nothing else I could use the sleep."

They reached Regina's car, and Regina couldn't help but be struck by the parallel of when Emma walked Sara to her car the other night.

"Henry tells me you are taking him to the movies on Wednesday night," Emma said.

"Yes," Regina said giving a small smile. "I have to admit that I wasn't real sure about some of is movie selections, but so far they've actually been pretty good. It's been nice to have something he and I can share together because video games are clearly not it for me."

"Oh, they aren't so bad once you get used to them." Emma said. "I mean the kid kicks my ass at them for the most part but I have a few respectable showings."

"Respectable? He told me about your respectability with one of them. A fifth level wizard, really? You actually have your own magic which is I am sure is higher than fifth level."

"Hey I will have you know that I am at level six now."

"Truly powerful I am sure," Regina smiled.

"Watch it. I will get Henry to make you play and then we will see how far you get," Emma said returning the smile.

"We'll see," Regina said.

"Well, I should let you get moving. Thanks again."

"You're welcome again."

…..

After exchanging a few text messages, Sara ended up bringing lunch over to the station for her and Emma to eat. Neither woman wanted to go to Granny's again, but couldn't quite agree on some place else so Sara offered to make up lunches and bring them to the station. There weren't a lot of places to eat and Emma didn't want to use the break room so she ended up taking Sara into one of the interrogation rooms, after introducing her to her father who was also on duty.

Emma thought she caught a slight hesitation on Sara's part when she introduced her to David, but she chalked it up to Sara just being caught off guard. She couldn't remember if she had mentioned to Sara that her dad worked with her at the sheriff's office.

"I certainly hope you didn't bring me in here to grill me," Sara smiled.

"Maybe some other day. Today let's just have lunch."

Sara insisted on serving Emma since she had made the food. It was shredded chicken sandwiches, along with pasta salad and some watermelon. Emma bit into the sandwich first.

"Damn this is good. Did you make it yourself?" Emma said taking another bite.

"I did."

"You did a wonderful job."

"Thank you. I enjoy cooking. I don't get to do it as often as I would like."

She actually didn't. When Henry was growing up, she cooked for the two of them all the time. They didn't eat out very often. But with her now sharing custody of Henry with Emma, the amount of time she spent cooking had decreased. It was why she had suggested that she bring them lunch. The fact that Emma enjoyed it made her feel even better about the idea.

As she watched Emma eat though, she couldn't help but feel bad. She had told herself after meeting with Archie that she would merely distance Sara from Emma. It would be the easiest way to handle it, she reasoned. Yet here she was sharing another meal with her.

"I heard you were given city council approval to hire more officers, congratulations."

"Thanks. I certainly rested easier on Monday night after that was over. Really the credit goes to Regina though. She was the one who created the ordinance, asked for more than what I had originally intended and told me what I needed to be prepared with as far as talking to city council."

"That was nice of her."

"Yes it was," Emma smiled thinking for a moment how good it felt to work on something with Regina that didn't just involve Henry. The woman really had changed, even if some people in town didn't see it. "So do you have a lot of work to do at work tonight?"

"Oh, you know work around a stable never really ends," Sara said giving non-specific answer since she wasn't in fact working tonight.

"Kind of like law enforcement," Emma said.

"Yes, kind of like that."

They ate the rest of their meal while talking. Emma dominated the conversation, speaking a lot about Henry which seemed to make Sara brighten up even more.

"Do you like kids?' Emma said.

"Yes," Sara said. "That's one of the great things about the stables. There are kids in there all the time learning to ride. The little ones are cute because their faces light up the first time they get to sit on top of a pony. For some of them, they will take that first ride and they will just know that this is where they should be. They make a connection with a horse from the very beginning and that horse becomes like a friend to them, and sometimes the stables will be a refuge for them from the stresses of life as they grow older."

Emma thought Sara looked a little sad at that last part, and not for the first time she wished she knew more about her. Sara usually skirted around specific questions about her past though. It was clear in talking to her that she loved her father and loved horses, but Emma wondered why she never mentioned a mother.

"Well I should get going and you should get back to work."

"Here I will walk you out," Emma said and she escorted her to her car. She felt an odd sense of déjà vu, not from walking to her car on Saturday night, but instead she thought about walking Regina to her car on Wednesday night.

"Thanks for lunch."

"You're welcome."

Again déjà vu.

"Um, so about the other night," Emma said. "When you said I should decide if I just wanted to get together with you for talking or if I wanted to ask you out on a date, well I would like to ask you out on a date."

"You would?"

"Don't act so surprised. Why wouldn't I want to ask you out on a date?"

Sara, rather Regina, stopped breathing a moment. She knew she should cut this off now before it went any further. There was no way this ended well.

Emma saw Sara pause as if thinking so she decided to be bold. She leaned in and captured the other woman's lips with hers. After enjoying the feel of those lips against hers when Sara kissed back, Emma pulled back.

"So about that date?