AN: To those who might be frustrated with the lack of Regina so far, I just want to say that this story is not only about Swan Queen, even though that's the main focus. Right now, we're still at the beginning of Emma's journey, so bear with me!

Also, if you google "royal spring lilies" you will get an accurate picture of the bouquet :p

Royal Lilies

I did manage to complete my tasks at work on time, because another member of the cleaning staff joined me halfway through my day. On the way home I decided to drop by at Granny's, and not only because my stomach was killing me with hunger. My hormones were still raging and it was long overdue to stop thinking about the mayor and start working on alternative solutions. The only one I kind of knew in this town that weren't male or had just delivered a baby was the waitress, Ruby. I wasn't too hopeful but perhaps, if she wasn't interested herself, she would know someone who knew someone who might be open to the idea. A long shot, yes, but it was worth a try.

I was greeted with a smile and a small wave from Ruby as I entered, and I responded with a smile of my own. The diner was more populated than last time but the small table which I had sat by then was free, so I went over there to claim it. A few minutes later the waitress was coming my way and I searched for any indication that she would be, like, not straight. Her long painted nails didn't exactly inspire hope.

Optimistic, I told myself, glancing down at those endless legs of hers. I needed to be optimistic.

"Back for more waffles?" the brunette asked jokingly.

"Not really," I grinned. "I'm starving, so I need something more substantial. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Well," she said, taking a menu from the small stand at the table and placing it in front of me. "We have plenty of delicious marine dishes, if you're into that kind of thing?"

Was I into fishy things? Depended on what I was eating, I guess. Or whom. Focus.

Ruby probably interpreted my silence as denial cause she continued.

"Or, you could try the rabbit stew, it's our own recipe!"

"But they're so-"

I stopped myself, realizing that all animals were innocent.

"Fluffy," I said instead, drawing a chuckle from the waitress.

"I've been at the farm that delivers to us and I can assure you, they live a short but happy life there," she said, and then pointed at another section of the menu. "That's more than I can say about some of these dishes. Granny probably knows, but I have no idea where we get all this stuff from."

"Granny?" I wondered, a bit perplexed. "As in, there's an actual granny owning this place?"

"Yeah, mine," Ruby affirmed with a toothy grin. "And she refuses to be called anything else than 'Granny'. It's like she's never even had a regular name."

"Cool," I said, but Ruby shook her head slightly.

"Not really. I feel kinda stuck here, to be honest. Was planning to go to Boston and everything but then she decided to have a heart attack and ruined my plans."

She noticed my arched brows and looked a bit guilty.

"That sounded terrible, didn't it?" she said and let out a small sigh. "I love Granny and it wasn't her fault, obviously. And she's fine now, it's just that I don't want to leave in case she gets bad again. I guess my grand plans have to wait."

I nodded slowly, thinking of a way to make her feel better about her situation.

"Do you know what I do for a living?" I asked.

"You haven't told," she replied, curiosity in her eyes.

"I sweep floors and scrub toilets, mainly. Actually, I got fired after only two weeks, but I got the job back this morning."

"Sounds...intense?"

"Tell me about it! My boss's boss is, like, literally a pain in the ass. Well, not literally literally, of course, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she grinned.

I was just thinking that this was actually going pretty well when my phone suddenly rang. The silly tune wasn't exactly flattering and I quickly rejected the call to make it stop. It had just been my mom anyway.

"Ruby Lucas!" called an aggravated voice suddenly from the counter, and the addressed brunette spun around. "You can indulge in private conversions after work hours, but right now you'd better-"

"But Granny," Ruby interrupted, only to be further admonished.

"No 'buts'! There's a line."

Ruby sighed and gave me an apologetic look, dutifully bringing up her notepad.

"Are you ready to order or do you want a few more minutes to decide?" she asked.

"You've convinced me," I said. "I'll go with the rabbit stew."

"Good choice," she commented with a victorious smirk. "And to drink?"

My phone rang again and I made a frustrated grimace while bringing it up from my pocket. A rejected call was a rejected call, couldn't she take a hint?

"Just water, please," I said to Ruby before answering the call. "Hi, Mom."

The waitress left with a knowing look on her face and my mom started showering me with questions in her usual manner.

"Hi! Emma! I haven't heard from you since your birthday, how've you been? Was it alright? You could've come here, you know that you're always welcome, right?"

"I know, but I wanted to do something different this year," I said, and it was so much easier to lie when she couldn't see me. "And it's only been like...five days."

"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, a simple text would do just as fine for that," I pointed out.

"But it's not quite the same, is it? Can you blame a mother for wanting to hear her daughter's voice once in a while?"

"Once in a while? You call me almost twice a week!"

"I do not!" she objected. "Just... Once maybe..."

I chuckled silently at her, knowing she would never change. And that was kind of alright, actually. I was just obliged to complain a little because she was my mom.

"So, how've you and Dad been?" I asked, deciding it was time to change the subject.

"Oh, Emma," Mom sighed, and for a split second I worried that something bad had happened. "Your dad is a real Prince Charming sometimes, but he's not really the brightest of them all."

What had he done now...?

"Right, the surprise vacation," I said, recalling what he had told me a while ago.

"The surprise vacation," my mom confirmed. "He said he had already talked to you about it and really? During Easter? And none of you thought that to be a problem? We've always celebrated Easter together, it's tradition! How am I supposed to be able to relax knowing that you're here all alone?"

"You're going to be windsurfing and diving with sharks in the Caribbean Sea, I don't think you're supposed to be relaxed."

Mom continued like she hadn't heard me.

"And what about Easter Dinner? You don't even know how to cook a proper-"

"Hey, no need to insult my cooking!" I cut her off. "Just because I'm no master chef it doesn't mean I'm completely useless. What do you think I'm eating over here? Grilled cheese seven days a week?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Seriously, Mom, have a little faith in me. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

She sounded very doubtful and I sighed, catching sight of Ruby who was already returning with my food.

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure," I assured her, trying to bring the conversation to an end. "I will be perfectly fine celebrating Easter by myself, and now, if you'll excuse me, I have a portion of rabbit stew to devour."

The waitress didn't succeed to completely mask her amusement and I smirked at her as she put the plate and a glass of water in front of me. The stew smelled delicious and I could barely wait to taste it.

"Rabbit stew?" Mom said, dumbfounded.

"Yep, so I have to go now. Bye, Mom, have fun this weekend!"

"But-"

"Bye!"

She muttered a reluctant "bye" and then the conversation was finally over and I could dive into the food.

"Overbearing mother, huh?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," I said with an eye roll, chewing frantically.

"I'm glad I don't have one. Granny is more than enough."

"It can be frustrating at times," I admitted, processing the hint that her mother somehow wasn't in the picture anymore. "Speaking of Granny, won't she be mad at you for 'indulging in private conversations during work hours' again?"

"Nah, she retreated to the back, complaining about a headache," Ruby said with a wolfish grin. "And she was exaggerating quite a bit, the line wasn't really a line, so..."

"So...now you're gonna watch my terrible table manners instead?" I questioned jokingly, demonstratively shoving an overloaded forkful into my mouth.

"Well, I am curious what you'll think of the stew..."

"It's delicious!" I ensured her.

"...and also," she continued with a smirk, "I couldn't help to hear that you're going to celebrate Easter by yourself."

"Ah, well, you know, it's not the end of the world," I said with a shrug. "I'm mostly just in it for the food anyway."

Ruby let out a chuckle, checking the room for any customers needing service before turning back to me.

"If you don't want to spend it alone, though, I'm going out with some friends Saturday night. You could tag along," she offered. "As for the food, the diner will be open at Sunday, providing our popular Easter Brunch Buffet."

"Are you saying that my Easter is saved?" I questioned with mock astonishment and wide eyes.

Honestly, I was glad for the offer. Spared me the the tricky task of asking for her number, which I technically had already done, and failed.

"Really, it sounds like fun," I said earnestly, "I don't really know anyone in this town so I've not been out much lately."

"It'll be great! And that can be easily remedied, cause I know basically everyone who's worth knowing around here. Your social circle is about to be expanded," she said with a wink.

Flowers. There was a man standing in the lobby when I entered the next day, carrying a bouquet of flowers. He was talking to the receptionist and his jacket read 'Game Of Thorns'.

"Ah, Miss Swan!" the receptionist called as she caught sight of me.

"Yeah?" I replied, a bit surprised she remembered my name.

I recognized her as the one that had served me my first day, but since then we had only exchanged a few polite smiles. The building didn't open up for business until eight and due to me mostly having worked early shifts – which, I couldn't stress it enough, started at fucking six in the morning! – the lobby had usually been dark and empty when I entered. Today, though, I was scheduled for the noon and evening hours.

"Could you, perhaps, bring these to the top?" the woman requested, gesturing toward the mix of pink, yellow, and peach in the man's hand.

The top. Did that mean...? There weren't a lot of offices up there and I frowned quizzically. Who would send flowers to her? Well, there was the one. The one, who had made her really pissed off the day before. The one, who was now invading my mind with unwanted pictures again. But what did I know, the mayor had a son, so why not a husband or a boyfriend? It seemed unlikely, but either way I wanted to find out more about this.

"Sure," I agreed and walked over to the reception.

The man handed over the bouquet to me, as well as a small folded card with 'Mayor Mills' elegantly printed on its front. Probably Mr Humbert then, I assumed, a significant other would most likely have at least included her first name.

"What kind of flowers are they?" I asked curiously, a cunning plan starting to form in my mind.

"From the best flower shop in town," the man proudly declared and brought attention to the brand on his jacket, "a dozen Royal Spring Lilies."

I nodded in acknowledgement and smiled politely at him, although I wasn't familiar with either the shop or the kind of flowers. Perhaps it had to do with my disinterest for plants, I could barely keep cactuses alive. Which, by the way, was the reason it was the only kind of plants I had in my apartment.

"I should get going, then," I said and glanced at the wall clock, which was half past ten precisely. "My shift starts about...now."

"Of course," the man agreed, "and I have more flowers to deliver. Have a good day!"

"Have a good day!" the receptionist and I replied in unison.

The man and I left in opposite directions and I smiled smugly at the thought of what I was about to do next. This might get interesting, I contentedly told myself. The Evil Queen would never see it coming. It was time for a little payback.

Sorting out the details of my plan I headed for the top. I couldn't be certain that it would work, of course, but one thing was clear. I needed to make a confident impression, or this would fall flat. With that in mind I went through the usual knocking routine, thinking that the worst scenario possible would be if things got more awkward for me than for her. Since she was already aware of some far more humiliating things I had done, I didn't have that much to lose.

Putting on my best poker face I entered her office, letting the flowers linger behind the door for a moment.

"Miss Swan," the mayor acknowledged.

I pushed the door shut behind me with a smile I hoped didn't look too smug, and her gaze flickered toward the flowers as they came into her view.

"What is this?" she questioned, cocking her head and narrowing her eyes at me.

"From the best flower shop in town," I ceremoniously announced, reciting the flower delivery guy, "a dozen Royal Lilies for Your Mayoral Highness."

I bowed gracefully and held out the bouquet in front of me, and when I straightened again the mayor had taken on a perplexed and slightly annoyed expression.

"What?"

"They're rather pretty, don't you think?" I said, studying the bouquet with an appreciative look as I casually moved closer to her desk.

She didn't answer and I shifted my gaze toward her, pleased with the way she was gritting her teeth in frustration. I could tell that she most of all wanted to snap at me but something was holding her back.

She was unsure.

I had the advantage for once and she didn't like it. It made her furious to not know what this was about and I was enjoying every second of my sweet revenge.

"No?" I questioned. "Well, that's a bit disappointing."

A bit disappointing for whomever the gifts were from, I didn't specify.

"Miss Swan, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here but I hardly think flowers are going to get you anywhere."

"Hey, I am not trying to accomplish anything," I declared, careful to stress the I enough.

The frustrated brunette opened her mouth to reply but stilled as it dawned on her. She pressed her lips tightly together again and the sudden look of comprehension in her eyes confirmed that I had indeed been successful in my attempt to mislead her. I pretended to be surprised.

"You thought they were from me?"

"Of course not!" she snapped. "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah," I agreed, ridiculous indeed. "Flowers are not my style."

The mayor huffed and threw me an annoyed look.

"Good to know," she said, her tone indicating that she didn't at all mean it. "If you're done playing around, perhaps you could put those lilies down and let me get back to work?"

"As you wish," I said and inclined my head. Your Majesty.

Continuing the silly act – just to provoke her even further –I took the last remaining steps toward her desk and placed the gifts on the marble top in an overly humble manner. Then I turned around, leaving her to shoot daggers at my back as I sashayed across the room.

"And Miss Swan?"

Just reaching the door I halted, slowly turning back toward the now, apparently, cool-as-a-cucumber brunette. She even wore a small winning smile and I was almost impressed with how quickly she had regained her composure. Almost. She was a politician, after all.

"Yes, Madame Mayor?"

"Don't be late again."

She had noticed, of course she had. I cursed inwardly and gave a short nod before retreating to the corridor, silently scolding myself. Why hadn't I changed into my work clothes before going to her office? How could I have been so stupid? Some cunning plan, eh... I was struck by a sudden fit of discouragement. Perhaps I should just give up on this whole thing and get used to her always having the last word. But no, I realized, of course I shouldn't give up. That would be like letting her win, and I didn't let people win just like that. She had yet to see what I was capable of.

And, I reminded myself, up until those last seconds it had been going damn great. With a smirk I recalled the highlights of our conversion, images of the unsettled mayor lingering in my mind. For the briefest of moments I wondered what would've happened if the flowers had actually been from me, but I quickly dismissed the thought. Regardless the intention, good or bad, flowers really wasn't my style.