Disclaimer in prior chapter(s)

Previously on Holland, Their Savior...

The brunette chuckled and brushed her lips gently against Emma's ear before straightening again when they came to a complete stop. She didn't know what possessed her to do that, but she's glad she did.

"$28.32"

Regina fished into her purse and pulled out two twenties. "Keep the change" she said.

"So, this is where Holland and I live when I'm not doing shoots or runways" Emma said, sweeping her hands up and down the street. It was a narrow street with dozens of different model cars parked in front of their respective brownstone condo.

The two stopped in front of a five leveled multi-family home.

"So this is us"

oOo

When Regina first walked into the house, she expected the inside to be much like the outside; ostentatious. But as usual when it came to making assumptions about Emma Swan, she was wrong. Instead of anticipated marble flooring, there was plush carpet and wood. Instead of stark white angular contemporary furnishing, the living and family room had comforting seating. A smile graced Regina's lips when she saw that in the corner of the family room, where a whole wall was decided to ceiling to floor windows were, there was a little corner that had a table with Winnie the Pooh painted on it, with a matching wooden chair.

Emma saw where the brunette's eyes landed, she too smiled. "That's her drawing table slash time out corner"

Regina chuckled.

The blonde bit her lip, "This is going to sound very weird but would you mind if I" she said, waving her hand towards Regina's hand.

Said brunette just raised an eyebrow. "Mind what, dear"

"Well I enjoyed holding your hand when we were hailing a cab. What I was wond...I was wondering if you would" Emma huffed frustratingly. Why was it so damn hard for her to ask Regina if she could hold her hand? Emma opened her mouth to try again, only to stop when she felt a hand clasp her own.

"I would have thought that you wouldn't be so shy to ask for what you wanted" Regina teased, only to smile a second later because she made Emma blushed.

"So what do I have to do in order for you to offer me a drink?"

Emma smacked her head lightly. "Shit, right sorry" Forgetting that her hand was being held, the blonde practically sprinted in the direction of the kitchen.

Laughing probably for the hundredth time that day, Regina tried to close the distance between her and Emma, making sure that their hands were still linked.

"I have apple juice, cranberry tart, fruit punch, or pop?" Emma asked after inspecting the fridge.

"Do you have anything-"

"Adult?" Emma finished with a laugh.

"Yes"

"Go into that room, and chose something" Emma said, pointed to the room that was adjacent to the kitchen. While Regina went into the wine room, she reached around the built in hood system that was suspended above the granite island countertop, and grabbed two wine glasses.

Opening the see through fridge, she grabbed some hummus and grapes. When Regina returned with the wine, Emma asked if she could find something to eat with the hummus.

It wasn't hard to find the pantry, although when Regina first passed it on her way to the wine room, she passed it. Walking in, yes, walking in, she spotted a bag of Publix's pita chips and also grabbed the bag of Reece's M&M's that were hidden behind some other items.

"I see you found my stash. Holl is allergic to them so I have to hide 'em"

"Just peanuts, or nuts in general?"

"Peanuts" Emma answered. "But I'm so paranoid, I don't even allow her to have any kind of nuts"

Storing away the information, Regina nodded before helping herself to find a serving plate.

"Pull out drawer next to the fridge"

Once all the food scattered onto the plate, and the wine poured into their respective glasses, the two decided to sit in the living room.

"I want to talk about what happened four years ago and if there's a still an us" Emma said after a few moments of silence.

Regina cleared her throat. "Straight to the point, huh, dear?" Making herself at home, Regina removed her shoes and folded her left leg under her right thigh. Emma doing the same thing in the chair she was occupying.

Regina asked the one question that always bothered her ever since she found out Emma had a child. "Although I haven't known her long, I adore her like she were my own" Regina took a sip from her glass.

Emma gulped, she knew what was coming…

"It didn't take you long to find someone" she stated.

The blonde decided that if they were ever going to work out their problems and have a relationship ever again, she needed to tell the truth. "I slept with him a week after we separated"

Regina exhaled slowly. The blonde will never understand how badly the brunette needed to hear those words. "Why?" she choked out.

Running a hand through her hair, Emma set her drink down. "I was angry and sad at both me and you. But mostly, I wanted to get back at you" When Regina furrowed her eyebrows, she explained better. "I thought that if I slept with someone that wasnt you, in my mind, that was me saying you no longer had any control over me"

"I never controlled you, Emma"

"I know. Wrong choice of words" Emma looked up at the crown molding that decorated her ceiling. "Even though I told you not to come back, deep down, I was hoping that you would. But after a few days of no calls and just sitting in the house alone, I had enough. So I drove and drove until I found a bar. I met Bryant there. It was his last night in the US before his unit got shipped out to Holland and-" She trailed off when she noticed the pain expression on the older womans face.

"She's named after him?"

Even though it was irrelevant, Emma understood Regina's question. The fact that Emma named her child after a one night stand, must mean that she cared about the guy, regardless of knowing him only for a night.

"I was pregnant and alone. The only tie Holl and to her-"

Regina helped, "Sperm donor"

"Yes, that. So the least I can do was give her some ties to him" Again, Emma stopped talking when she noticed the pain expression on the brunettes face. "Let's forget about Holland's parentage, I can see this is hurting you"

Regina shook her head. Emma was wrong. "I hate that I missed out on four years of your daughters life. I hate that I took my mothers offer" with each admission, the brunette's voice got louder and louder. "I hate that I was a coward and didn't call you, beg you to let me come home. I hate that he was inside you, even if it was four years ago. I hate that other people touched you. Touch you" She corrected, remembering Isla. "I hate it" she finished off in a choked whisper.

The old nickname fell off of Emma's lips without thought. She didn't move from her chair to comfort the brunette though. Not because she didn't want to but because the two needed to have this talk and she knew if she got up now, they were going to do everything but talk.

"Baby, this is why we need to have this talk" she said, voicing her inner thoughts. "That way, hopefully, the air will be clear between us. And then we can focus on us. If there's an us. And there's no way I'm going to sit there and allow your to blame yourself. The phone works both ways, I could've called you, or rung Cora. I was a coward too"

Regina's mood lifted when Emma called her baby. "I'm sorry for my little rant"

"No need. Afterall, this is why we're having the talk. To get everything of of our chest, so to speak"

Without meaning to, Regina's eyes fell to Emma's chest.

The blonde saw where Regina's eyes landed and decided to tease her. Leaning forward, she made sure to bend as low as she could. Grabbing her a bunch of grapes from the table, she sat up straight and smiled when she came into contact with Regina's narrowed eyes.

"Be careful, dear. Even after four years, I'd take a guess and say you still couldn't handle me"

Emma winked, "I've changed, baby. I'm no longer that fumbling seventeen year old"

Regina raked her eyes up and down Emma's body. Noticing the womanly curves that weren't there before, or how she went up a cup size from having a child.

She said each word slowly. "No, you are not"

Even though Emma was glad that Regina was checking her out, she reluctantly changed the subject. "So where does this put us?"

"Well, dear. I would like to take things slow. Obviously we are still sexually attracted to each other, but like you stated, we both changed in the last four years. So I suggest we get to know one another again"

Emma hesitated. "Would we be dating?" she asked slowly. Please say yes.

As if the gods were against them, Regina's phone starting ringing somewhere in the house. "Save that question, I'll be right back"

While Regina walked in the direction of the foyer, Emma smiled widely and leaned back into the chair. She inhaled and exhaled a few times and thought about what her and Regina talked about so far. Kicking her feet up, she squealed like a girl, while doing a little happy dance in the chair. All she knew was that there was still a chance for her and the brunette, and that made Emma's heart soar. After a few minutes, she decided to go check up on Regina.

Now Emma knew how rude it was to eavesdrop, after all, she's been telling it to her daughter all of her life, but the blonde couldn't help it when she neared where Regina was, she heard whispering.

"I'm staying at my mother's for the duration of the time…..no I'm not sure how long….She's an old friend, an ex if you must know….if you could leave the key with Mr. Patsalmati down stairs, I'll be grateful….I'm not sure if I want to work it out, dear….okay...I'll talk to you later...good luck on set...bye" Hanging up the phone Regina held it to her chin.

"You never did master stealth, Miss Swan" she said without turning around.

Caught, Emma walked around the corner with a sheepish look on her face.

"That was Tatiana, she's flying out to California to start filming"

Emma tried not to show the jealousy she was feeling on her face. Emma forgot that while she was single, Regina wasn't. And the fact that the brunette had someone special in her life that wasn't her made the blonde pissed.

Regina saw the expressions flashing across Emma's face and smirked. Served the blonde right for making her feel insecure and jealous with her and Isla. Now she knows how it feels, Regina thought.

"How what feels?" Emma questioned.

Shit. I said that out loud. Deciding to come clean, she said, "Now you know how it feels when I think about you and Isla"

Rocking on her heels, Emma paused, "Oh" Not knowing what to say, she asked Regina if she would like a tour of the house.

Regina swept her hands in front of her, "Lead the way"

The blonde showed Regina the home office before the two headed upstairs. The second story consisted of a guest room, master room, bathroom and what Regina assumed was Holland's room if the pink and purple walls were anything to go by. Walking up another set of stairs, they reached the third floor.

"Up here is just another guest room with a jack and jill bathroom that leads to a sitting room"

"Sort of like a mother-in-law suite?" Questioned Regina while taking a look at the suite that took up all of the third floor.

"Pretty much, yeah"

The two continued onto the fourth floor. It amazed Regina that the house did not have an elevator. Almost like reading her thoughts, Emma said, "I would've installed an elevator, but I like walking up and down the stairs" she cocked her head to the side. "It's almost therapeutic"

"What about Holland? I would imagine she would find the stairs annoying with her little legs"

"She seldom comes up here, except when Isla visits. When it's NY Fashion Week, Isla takes up permanent resident here. Her living area is on the last floor" Emma paused "I'd feel weird showing you her space without asking her first" she explained.

Regina touched her arm. "I understand dear"

The two reached the fourth floor in no time. "No home theater?" Regina teased after finding out the fourth floor was used as a home gym with a master bathroom. The gym had every equipment you could think of.

Emma teased back. "Oh, sweetie. You know me too well"

Turns out the basement home theater idea was turned into a giant playroom for Holland. Toys were neatly stacked along the wall, a small trampoline stood on the other side of the room, a flat screen tv, a shelf that had all the gaming systems known to man, and a foosball table.

Six years prior…

"So you're saying all I have to do is get that thing" Emma said, pointing to the white ball. "into your goalie thingy"

"Eloquent as ever, dear" the twenty-one year old brunette said. "There's more to just scoring" Regina explained. "There's other rules such as ball off the table, dead ball, jarring, spinning the rods-"

Emma held up a hand. "You can stop right there. Let's keep it simple, kay? I'm a virgin at this"

The last remark caused a heated leer directed at her. "You're anything but a virgin, dear" Regina replied huskily. "I made sure of that"

The brunette saw when the eighteen year old blonde mentally went back to a year ago when they first started dated, resulting in Emma losing her virginity.

"Welcome back" she said, once Emma lost the foggy look in her eyes.

Emma ducked her head shyly and murmured something along the lines of 'Shuddup and let's play'

Present…

"Oh that's not fair!" Emma yelled, throwing up her hands in the air.

A chuckle was her response. "Again?"

"So you can beat my ass again? Hell no"

"I forgot to show you my favorite part of the house" Emma said, grabbing Regina's hand.

"There's one on the fifth floor, but I think you'll like mine better. Isla has all kind of jungle shit up there"

Regina was confused. Jungle shit?

Emma led the brunette through the back of the house, passing the kitchen. Walking around a corner, Regina gasped. Emma in turn smiled that she got the reaction of the brunette. The room that they were standing in had an Asian feel to it. Gold and green 6 feet tall bamboo trees lined one side of the wall. What was neat about it was that the bamboo weren't in potting pots, they were literally in the ground that was covered with white sand and light colored rocks. The wood flooring that covered the room stopped about a foot away from the plants and rocks. Different sized ottomans were scattered around the room with asian wordings sewed on them. And straight ahead there was a light colored sliding shoji door that led out to a garden that again, had an asian feel to was patio furniture and dozens upon dozens of Asian plants and pots. Above them, the room was enclosed with glass and wooden beams that ran straight across to the other side of the room.

"It's gorgeous isn't it?"

"Absolutely" Regna breathed out. She looked towards the blonde. "So I'm assuming Isla's one upstairs isn't as organized as this one?" she questioned.

"Nuh uh. It literally looks like a jungle. Trees upon trees. All that's missing are monkeys and parrots" Emma joked.

Regina furrowed her eyebrow. "Who takes care of it when you're outside of the country?"

"Miranda. She's been working for me since I purchased the place. She cleans and takes care of both outside gardens" Emma rubbed her stomach. "Plus she cooks"

"Wow, time flies by fast" Emma said after checking her watch.

Emma's voice caused Regina to stop staring at the beautiful blonde, "I'm sorry, what was that dear?"

"The time" she said, pointing to her watch. "It's already been two hours" Emma didn't want to leave the privacy of her home yet. "Are you hungry?"

The question caused her to get the famous Regina 'you're not serious?' look.

"We just ate lunch a few hours ago, Emma. You can't possibly be hungry"

Emma shrugged her shoulders, "It was the only excuse I could come up with to stall you leaving"

Regina's eyes softened like they always did when Emma said something sweet. "We should actually head back to Mother's. I'm almost positive Holland has awoken from her nap"

How was it that Regina remembered her child, but not her? It wasn't that Emma literally forgot about her, but Holland was the last thing on her mind at the moment. It's like when her and Regina were together, the world disappeared.

"Let me just call Isla and tell her we're on our way"

"Hey, have you seen my phone?" Emma asked once the two were standing in the foyer.

"Check your purse" replied Regina.

Now it was Emma's turn to face her and give her a 'Are you serious?' look.

"I checked it twice"

Reaching into her own purse, the brunette told the blonde to use her phone.

"Thank you"

The phone rang a few times before Isla picked up.

"Hello?"

"Is, it's me. Just wanted to let you know that we're on our wa'-"

'Emma!? Where the bloody hell have you been, mate?! I've been ringing you for ages!"

Said blonde took the phone away from her ear. Even Regina cringed at how loud the model yelled.

"Geez, last time I checked you weren't my keeper"

On the other side of the line, Isla scoffed. "If you must know, I was trying to ring you to let you know that we heard from Bryant" Her tone softened. "He said some stuff to some TMZ little shit"

Regina could no longer heard what was being said but she knew it wasn't happy news if the color draining from Emma's face was any indication. Taking the phone from the blonde, Regina finished listening to what Isla was saying.

"Isla, it's Regina. We're on our way"

oOo

A/N : Enjoyed it? Leave a review.

I want to think all of you guys for reviewing and favorting/following my fanfic.. -wipes tear-

A/N #2 : A lot of you said they don't want angst between Regina and Emma, so if you notcied in this chapter, I started to repair their broken relationship. I even shipped Tatiana off across the country, so she can be out of the way...for the time being. I know, I know, I'm nice.

Until next time

~ S