** Let's pretend here that the events of the Miller's Daughter have already taken place because I don't want to put that in this story. That is just too "angsty" and I like this story just the way it is in all its awkwardness :D

I didn't mean for the last chapter to be so… romantic (?) but that's okay I guess since I got some nice responses. It didn't matter now did it?

Since the show has taken to calling everyone by their Storybrooke names again I will probably do the same.

Anywho, "Anna" suggested that if I had an idea of where this story should go I should carry on… so I did. :) **

Chapter 7

It has been almost a month now since Cora has been killed and all the while Regina has been battling many demons. Waiting for Snow to fall or kill her now was one of said "demons". Patience was not a virtue Regina held in high regards and so her revenge in this case would be agonizingly slow.

Visiting her mother's grave had become a weekly thing and because Henry was spending more and more time with his birth father Neal, Gold's son, loneliness was her only friend these days.

As her mind wanders she makes her way beneath the family crypt. Boxes and boxes of hearts remained in the vault. Some of the boxes were still on the ground where her "regal foe" had left them when searching out her Cora's heart to end her life.

Regina walks on to the room and when she walked in through the mirrored door she nearly tripped over a black jacket, Emma's black jacket, the jacket she had left behind when they had been alone here together in what turned out to be quite the thrilling evening.

It had been rather bold of the blonde to search her out that evening and though Emma said it had only been an accident she knew what it took to make magic work.

Rumplestiltskin had always said that Magic was something that you felt so it only sufficed to say that because Emma was so sure of what she felt for Regina she was lead straight to her and THAT was a scary thought.

She was reluctant to agree with what Emma had concluded that evening. She did enjoy their banter. She did enjoy their shared anger, the fire that drove them in to action. It was exciting. It was energizing and truth be told that was all Regina ever really desired, someone, anyone to present a challenge to her while living in this mundane mortal world but the fact that it was the daughter of her nemesis was just the icing on the cake.

There were so many twisted ways that Regina could get back at Storybrooke's Mary Margaret and trying to take advantage of Emma would be a rather pleasant way of achieving that. Well… more pleasant for Regina than anyone else.

… and there it is again, that wonderfully wicked smile forming on those ruby red lips at the thought of the chance to take advantage of Emma. "What the hell is wrong with me?!" Regina says aloud to herself as she snaps back to reality. "Of all the people of the different worlds I have seen, all the characters in this ridiculous town, of all the people in this mortal world… I smile at the thought of… Emma?" She says this rather disgusted with herself.

She stares at her reflection in the mirror, brows arched, clearly angry with herself here. "Get a hold of yourself! You were once an ever regal Queen. Clearly you made it a habit of taking whatever or whomever you so desired. It was an insatiable need to overpower people and have them grovel at my feet… not smile at the thought of them."

Why then when she had Emma in her clutches that fateful evening, in this underground lair no less, did she let her off so easy? Why did she care that Emma was nervous about being with her? She had taken plenty of people against their will and never once considered how they felt. "Pathetic…" She mutters to herself in the mirror once more. "I was pathetically vulnerable then. She… she caught me off guard. That was all…" She tries to convince herself, "She caught me in a… a good mood. Any other time I would have… I would have… What would I have done? I mean clearly I've had plenty of chances to try and take advantage of her but I guess I didn't anticipate how thrilling it would be to have someone to go up against. I mean the curse left everyone who ever had any fight in them without a need to fight me and then in waltzes Emma and I feel alive again. I felt myself again. I had a reason to fight, a reason to argue. She walked back into my sons life and she became a threat but when did it turn in to… in to… in to what?"

Regina takes a moment to saunter around the room because the Evil Queen does not pace mindlessly in thought, she saunters in deep contemplation. "I started to find reasons to instigate a fight. I started plotting and manipulating people to get her to confront me and then… well then I'd find myself enthralled by the way she managed to face me without fear. She was relentless. She would not back down no matter the consequence and just when I thought I had her she'd out maneuver me and I had to work up a whole new plan. It was the very thrill of the chase." She says with a wicked grin on her face.

Regina smacks her forehead, "The thrill of the chase and I had her. I had her right here in this room and I took her home. What the hell? Since when does the Evil Queen give in to someone else's weaknesses?"

Was she even the "Evil" Queen anymore? She had given Snow a free pass hoping that the blackness of her heart will overpower her goodness. She let Henry talk her out of so many situations. When had she lost her Evilness? "This will not do. I know what I want. I just need to take it. That is how things get done. That is where power comes from. I'll be damned if I am going to let myself slip again!" She shouts at her reflection in the mirror.

She takes a look around the room and remembers something. When she walked in… that coat… "Where is it?" She takes a turnabout and meets her own reflection in the mirror once more. Somehow she managed to pick up that stupid jacket from the floor of the room and slip it on without even realizing it.

She stares for a moment taking the time to appreciate her figure in the coat. She ties the belt around her and tucks her hands in to the pockets. She then reaches up and pulls at the collar so that it fits snuggly around her neck. The collar triggers the memory of how she pinned the woman up against the brick wall of this room to initiate yet another passionate kiss. She remembers the blonde so carelessly taking the jacket off before she allowed Regina to lead her away to the bed. "Surely she knew my intensions. Surely she knew the direction things might eventually lead… and yet she was as meek as a kitten once I had her in that bed. She's… she's toying with me!" Regina growls at this. "I cannot believe... I fell for that! That is my game!" She disappears only to reappear in the bedroom of a still sleeping Emma.

She walks over to the bed to look down at the sleeping woman, so ungraceful. Those unruly golden locks sprawled over the pillow. Her face calm and serene... those lips... Regina muses as she is now sitting on the edge of the bed. She reaches out to caress the cheek of the sleeping woman running her thumb over those lips and then those eyes pop open. The face expresses utter shock and the words that spill forth from those lips do much of the same. "Regina!? What the hell? Why do you always... do that!?" She puts a hand to her chest to try and calm herself. "What are you doing here? Is that my..." She tilts her head in question. "Are you wearing my..." Emma doesn't get the chance to finish her question as Regina bends down and quickly kisses her.

Regina is now using the weight of her body to keep the blonde pinned down but she's rather upset at how she is not struggling beneath her. She had intended to startle Emma and then take advantage of her. The element of surprise would help her to gain the upper hand here or so she thought.

"Emma!?" They hear from the bottom of the stairs followed by the progressively loud steps up that stairwell.

Emma presses her hands flat up against Regina's shoulders to push her off. "Henry!" She whispers.

Regina who is just as panicked is too caught off guard to react accordingly so Emma shoves her off the opposite side of the bed and she falls to the floor with a good solid thud. "Ow."

"Hey Emma... are you going to get up anytime in this century?" Henry asks as he makes his way to the bed only to hop on and tackle her.

"Woah kid... calm down. I can only take so much excitement in one morning." She says as she grabs his wrists to hold him chancing a quick glance to the edge of the bed.

David comes up the stairs. "Emma? Is everything okay up here? I thought I heard a thud."

"What? Yeah everything is fine I just... I dropped someone...uh..." She shakes her head quickly. "I mean something... off the edge of the bed." Emma says trying to contain her anxiousness.

"I'll get it." Henry says quickly breaking out of Emma's hold leaving her to cringe in a moments panic.

He leans over the edge of the bed noting with curiosity that there is a faint glow of purple smoke near the floor. "Did you drop something magical off the bed?" Henry asks confused as he leans up and looks back over his shoulder at Emma.

She laughs nervously, "Uh no... I uh... hey I need to get dressed." She changes the subject quickly. "Could you guys give me a little... a little privacy? I'll be down in a minute and we can... have breakfast." She offers hurriedly.

"You missed breakfast Em. It's just past noon." David offers while he gives a curious look about the room.

"Right, we'll have lunch then." She says with what she hopes looks like a sincere smile as she gets up to usher the two of them out of the room. She shuts the door behind them and leans against it.

"Oh my God! What just happened?!" She whispers loudly to herself looking back to the spot on the floor next to the bed, and she really can't help the chuckle that escapes her. "I threw the Evil Queen off of my bed."

** Yup, I cannot deny that this is still a fun story. I like that I get the chance to laugh while I write it. It puts me in a good mood.

A guest reader wrote that Love from readers is like crack so I guess I have something to own up to. I've been in denial too long… apparently I am a crackhead. :)

I'll do my best to share new thoughts as they pop up in my mind. Until then... Thanks for the reads, reviews, and follows. **