Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT blah blah blah
A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and subscribed to this story so far. Much love for all of you!
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Everything felt surreal, dreamlike. Though, Emma thought, if this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.
Regina sighed, and pulled a grimace. "Rubbing down saddles all day. I want to ride!" Surprised by her own words, she covered her mouth with one hand. That had definitely sounded conceited. "Sorry, I.. I didn't mean that. I'm just.. a bit impatient sometimes." Embarrassed, she looked away from Emma.
The horses had to be comfortable, of course, that was the most important thing. But then again.. "Emma, I've seen people ride without a saddle! Can we try that too, some time?" She was excited now, and there was no stopping her. Regina wanted to be on horseback now, and ride through the fields.
She was daydreaming now, about riding, and flying..being free, but when she looked back at Emma, she got pulled back into reality. It wasn't fair. It was as if two dreams were coming true for herself, and Emma was stuck in a nightmare. Regina had a friend for the very first time in her life, and she was going to learn how to ride properly - and Emma? She was about to lose her father; and then she would have to continue working in the stables.
Biting her lip, Regina reached out and pulled Emma to her. "Life isn't fair. I want to share my happiness with you. So if there's anything I can do to make you happy, please tell me."
Emma was silent for a moment as she started wiping down one saddle. It appeared that Regina was still a noble inside. The blonde wasn't going to hold a grudge against her by any means, Regina just didn't know any better.
"Wiping down the saddles is an important step. That's when you check for twigs, burrs and anything else that could have gotten stuck under the saddle. Think of it like this. Would you want to walk around with something sharp in your shoe all the time?"
Continuing without waiting for a response, Emma was once again drawn in by Regina's eagerness.
"How about we try that after you get the hang of trotting, cantering and running on a horse? Bareback /is/ fairly fun, but it's also harder because you won't have stirrups."
Regina shook her head in embarrassment at Emma's question, then sighed when the other girl told her that bareback riding was even harder than normal riding. "But it looks so natural, I've seen it. I want to feel connected to the horses. They're my favourite animals." With a small grin on her face now, she began to help Emma rub down the saddles.
Even though Regina knew she was of higher class than Emma, she felt like the other girl could teach her so much more than she herself knew. Sometimes she'd felt like a bird in a birdcage, locked away, unable to learn anything about the world outside. The thought of that made her not only sad, but angry - mostly at her mother.
"You're so clever, Emma. I don't know much about the world. Sometimes it feels like I know nothing, because I'm never allowed to go out and experience life away from our grounds." Trying to clean the saddle as perfectly as possible, she added, "When we're older, I want to ride out and have adventures with you. Wouldn't that be great?"
How could Emma say no? There was something about Regina that drew her in and made her want to keep the brunette happy. Emma is already smiling when she nods her assent. "It's a deal. You can be the fair maiden and I'll be her majesty's royal guard!" Emma had often imagined herself as a proper lady with dresses and a house and a family, but then there was Regina. The blonde couldn't be sure when it happened or how it had happened so swiftly, but now she imagined herself a lady knight bravely defending a Regina captured by a dragon or some other form of vicious beast.
"Don't you worry, we have all the time in the world to have adventures and I promise, we'll make them some really good ones!" The worry that was an almost constant curdling sensation in her stomach had calmed noticeably in Regina's presence the last couple of days. She never wanted to let that go.
Finishing wiping down her saddle, Emma reached up and twisted her hair up on top of her head and tucked it all under her hat. "I'm going to go get the mares we'll be riding, alright? Just finish that up and we can go ride in the pasture so I can show you how to do some simple things like trotting, galloping and cantering."
Stepping out from the stall where they bathed and groomed the horses, Emma left Regina to finish with the saddle and led her favorite gray and black quarter horse from her stall then slipped the harness onto the pretty mare. Once she had her horse saddled and ready, Emma turned to help Regina saddle hers. The mare that Emma had chosen to teach Regina on was a little older than average riding horses, and well mannered.
Regina giggled at the way Emma had just called her the majesty's royal guard, and it made her happy that she was agreeing to everything she'd suggested. She was sure that her new friend would be the best teacher. "How do you know all this? Did your father teach you?"
Regina wanted to curse herself the second she'd mentioned Emma's father. Why did she have to be so damn curious all the time? Shaking her head quickly, she looked down at the saddle and started rubbing furiously, if only to let out the anger at herself. Now Emma would be reminded, and all sad again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." She was awful at this. Awful at conversing and being a friend.
If only her mother had allowed her to have a friend before Emma, at least she would know how to act her best. And she wanted to be her best in front of her new friend. She wanted not only to share every single one of her secrets with Emma, she also just wanted to.. talk to her whenever she could. She wanted to stare at her and her beautiful blonde hair all day, and when Emma hid it under her hat she almost felt a bit disappointed.
Of course she'd pictured Emma in shining armor the moment she'd called herself the royal guard, and somehow, Regina liked the idea of that. "You know, you're more of a lady than I am. You always seem to know what exactly to say or do."
Though Emma had slowed, a little stunned, at the mention of her father, she put forth an effort not to let the conflict inside show on her face. "Yeah..he taught me when I was small." Shaking her head and waving a hand in Regina's direction as if brushing off the apology, Emma forced her smile back and led the chestnut mare towards the girl.
"This is Lily. She's really sweet, I'm sure you'll do well together." Regina's last comment actually pulled a real laugh from the blonde. Emma? A lady? Hardly.
"I'm just good at keeping my head down. You learn not to get noticed when you're doing work not meant for a girl. If I was caught doing my father's work, we'd both be flogged." The thought had terrified Emma when she first started covering for her father, the man wouldn't survive a flogging. But now, Emma was comfortable with her daily routine and confident enough that she could pass for an adolescent boy.
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