Author Note: Bit later than usual, sorry about that. I got a little stuck on the second scene there, and then got annoyed and rewrote the end of the third scene twice. I think it needs another rewrite but I can't be bothered.


Sometime during their conversation, Regina glanced down to find Emma asleep in her lap. She hadn't minded at the time and even relished the thought that she could provide the comfort and safety Emma had no doubt needed in order to relax enough to do so. Now that their evening had drawn to a close, however, she found herself somewhat at a loss as to what she was meant to do. She didn't want to wake her, but neither did she want to risk throwing her back out by sleeping in her current position.

"I have a number of bedrooms you can make use of," Zelena offered and Regina looked up just as the redhead walked back into the room. She had made a comment earlier about Gareth needing something to preoccupy his mind and disappeared, leaving the two women alone for a few minutes. Her eyes drifted back down to the blonde, unable to resist the pull at the corners of her mouth as she smiled.

"I don't believe she would appreciate having to ride horseback in her current state."

"Nor should she," Zelena chuckled. She moved to the table in the corner and retrieved a small hand mirror before walking over to the brunette. With a tap of her nail against the glass, she held it up for Regina to see the image that appeared within and nodded in the direction of a closed door as she said, "Behind there you'll find this room—I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

Regina gave a grateful smile and inclined her head. Ignoring the woman's compulsion to constantly flirt and embarrass Emma throughout the night, she was fast becoming someone Regina thought she might actually like. "Thank you," she said before the signature purple of her magic engulfed them.

Emma mumbled incoherently as they landed on the bed and Regina took a moment to laugh softly before manoeuvring out from underneath her. Looking down on her, she had the sudden urge to kiss the woman and after barely a second of hesitation, she bent down and pressed her lips to the blonde's forehead. Emma hummed and Regina straightened, realising she had lingered a little longer than she intended and shaking her head at herself.

After another minute, she made a small sweeping motion with her hand and stripped Emma of her outer layer of clothing. She removed her own the old-fashioned way as her eyes took advantage of an all too rare opportunity, roaming every inch of the toned, milky flesh on display.

With a sigh, she tossed leather breeches to the chair where the rest of their clothes ended up and climbed on to the bed. As soon as she lay back, pulling the blanket over them, she grinned and closed her eyes as an arm slid across her stomach and Emma moulded to her side.

"Pervert," the blonde whispered teasingly, dropping a kiss to her shoulder before burying a head in the crook of her neck and falling back to sleep.


Eyes closed, Regina rubbed at the tickling sensation on her stomach and released a growl. "Whatever it is you're doing, stop it," she said but as annoyed as she wanted her words to sound, her eyes flew open upon hearing how raw her voice was. It sounded as if she had spent the last few hours screaming for the world to hear.

Emma, on the other hand, wore a triumphant smirk and continued trailing kisses across heated flesh. She had woken, wrapped around Regina like her own personal koala bear and was pleased to note the brunette's shirt had ridden up during the night—even more pleasing had been the fact she had migrated further south than she remembered being and her mouth aligned perfectly with the dip of Regina's bellybutton.

"I'm still not adverse to the idea of setting you on fire," Regina murmured, though she made no further effort to dissuade the blonde. It felt nice; not just the action but also the intimacy that had always been there between them, which had flourished without the slightest bit of hesitation when both made clear they were willing to see their relationship develop beyond the odd, but easy friendship.

Observing Emma in a state that bordered a form of almost worship, she brought her hand closer to the blonde's mouth and traced the contours of her lips with the tips of her fingers. Emma made a sound, whether a moan or hum; Regina wasn't sure, but her heart fluttered in response and she closed her eyes as her fingers received the same adoring attention previously bestowed on her stomach.

"Come here." Her throat rumbled with the words and Emma's stomach flipped as she moved to obey, hovering above the brunette where she waited somehow unassuming, yet expectant at the same time.

Emma bowed her head as a hand slid across her hip, shirt slowly riding up as it stroked along her side before gliding around her ribs and over her breast. Fingers caressed the slope of her throat and curled around the back of her neck as Regina pulled them together, lips slotting perfectly together as she placed her other hand at the small of Emma's back.

Any second thoughts Regina might have had burned up in the heat that expanded between them as a weight settled on top of her. She sighed into the kiss, fingers digging into hot flesh as Emma devoured her mouth with skilful lips and tongue. If she could wake up each morning this, she thought, every bad thing, every mistake and evil she committed—every moment of sadness and hopelessness would be worth living a hundred times over.

When they broke apart, their breaths mingled together and Emma stared down at her with a smile that spoke volumes. Regina felt the adoration, the happiness—the want and couldn't help the smile of her own. "Why did we not do this sooner?" she wondered aloud and that smile-turned-smirk made her feel weak, but in the most delicious of ways.

"We're very stubborn," Emma stated and Regina laughed as she nodded. It was the understatement of the century, but nothing less than the truth. Two years of butting heads, of denying their attraction to one another—at least on her part—then ignoring the obvious feelings that sprang up between them; stubborn didn't come close to what they were, but it would do.

"I'm glad we overcame whatever the reason was," Regina confessed, "but—" the mouth once again claiming her own cut off the rest of her words and her chest vibrated with her amused chuckle.

"Emma Swan, you will let me finish speaking," she scolded when Emma pulled back, though her tone remained light and the blonde grinned, a sheepish and contrite expression painting her features. "As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted—as much as I enjoy this; we are in a cave and while I'm sure she would appreciate the symphony that would no doubt accompany our time together, I would rather we had some distance from the ill-behaved succubus when we do decide to..."

She trailed off, causing Emma to raise her eyebrow and laugh at the sudden nervousness Regina sported. "You can say it, we're both big girls," she teased. "When we decide to have sex, you don't want your sister to hear us, which is understandable… and somewhat presumptuous, really. Who said I wanted to have sex? Maybe I just really like your mouth."

"Mhmm," Regina hummed. "That must be why I woke up to your lips oh so close to my mmph—" Muffled by Emma's lips, Regina shook with laughter as she wrapped her arms around the blonde, happily surrendering to yet another kiss.


Emma and Regina finally pried themselves away from one another long enough to get out of bed and get dressed. When they stumbled from the room, their playful moods, however, shifted to something uncomfortable when face to face with a somewhat frantic and extremely flustered looking succubus.

Zelena looked up as the door closed behind them and breathed a sigh of relief. "Dear Gods, I've participated in orgies responsible for less sexual tension than the two of you," she said and Emma choked on her laughter, the strain in the redhead's voice sending the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy.

Clearing her throat, Zelena smiled and managed to sound somewhat sincere as she apologised. "Sorry, I can't always control it," she explained and the blonde nodded, unable to voice her acceptance as she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.

Emma was starting to think that maybe it wouldn't entirely be Regina's fault when she died. Between the two sisters, she wouldn't be surprised when the imagery in her brain, combined with the husk of their voices one day suctioned the air from her lungs permanently and she dropped dead.

Snaking her hand into the blonde's, Regina ignored the obvious discomfort between them all and looked around. She frowned. "This isn't the room we were in last night," she said; a mix of confusion and amusement colouring her words.

"Yes well," Zelena floundered for a moment for an explanation, and then sighed a little too dramatically. "I was distracting myself from all those pheromones—can we change the subject now? I think we would all benefit from a change of subject; I prepared food."

With the announcement came the sound of Emma's stomach and the three women chuckled. Regina dragged the blonde to the table that had replaced the loveseats from the previous night, less perturbed by the changes now that she knew the reason. Whenever she had too much energy, she tended to become overly compulsive in her cleaning habits. The fact her sister rearranged furniture, while for a completely different—and unusual—reason, it was similar enough that she understood.

"So," Zelena started as soon as they were all seated, plates piled high with an assortment of food that had Emma's mouth watering. "Now that you know I played my little trick on your scout to bring you here so we could meet, what are the two of you going to do now?"

Regina lifted her shoulders in a shrug as she picked daintily at her meal, never one to forget her manners when it wasn't just her and Emma. "I suppose we'll return to the White Kingdom. Emma will resume her guard duties and I'll go back to being bored to tears listening to the two idiots run their kingdom while pretending to take my advice."

Emma paused, raising her eyebrow in silent reprimand and Regina smirked. "Or something like that," she concluded, smugness written across her face. Emma shook her head, accepting the fact Regina would always find some way to throw in a jab about her parents every now and then—honestly at that point, she should have been used to it.

Smiling at their interaction, Zelena summoned a book to her hand and slid it across the table to the brunette. "Perhaps that will keep you busy for a while," she said. "I believe you found its counterpart a few months ago…"

Picking the book up, Regina felt the power emanating from the pages as she turned it over. "This is the Liber de Lumine?"

Zelena nodded. "I came across it during an unfortunate jaunt through Wonderland; magnificent place to visit if you ever feel the desire to lose your mind."

Emma snorted. "Been there…"

"Done that," Regina finished with a grin. "Emma became good friends with… what did you call them, the Tweedle twits?"

Zelena and Emma both groaned before the blonde started laughing. "See I'm not the only one who couldn't stand them," she said, nudging Regina with her elbow.

"I was tempted to enthral them just to see if it would shut them up."

They continued to talk as they ate, swapping stories of their trips to different lands. Emma mentioned her previous visit to the Enchanted Forest, only to discover Zelena had heard all about it from Mulan—who, the redhead happily informed them, had a fondness for the ladies. Emma made a mental note to figure out what the equivalent of twenty dollars was in the Enchanted Forest so she could make her mother pay up for the bet she lost.

Gareth arrived an hour or two before lunch and Zelena promised to visit the White Kingdom in future. Apparently, she possessed a pendant that would suppress her powers, a gift from an old friend that she refused to wear unless absolutely necessary because it made her feel too naked—Emma had snorted at that and received a swift smack to the back of the head from Regina for her trouble.

On the road back to the White Kingdom, Regina ignored Emma's moaning about entering into an abusive relationship for exactly three minutes and then snapped her fingers, effectively silencing the complaints with a spell while she took to humming the tune she knew drove the blonde insane.