Chapter 11 - Second Guessing or Second Chances
She was nervous. Her heart racing, pounding aggressively in her chest, as she stared intently at her coffee. The black liquid no longer steaming, had gone cold in her own procrastination. Her palms, wrapped tightly around the mug, were slick with sweat. You'd think she was off to face a dragon, or stood stoically before the gallows awaiting an inevitable sentencing.
But she wasn't.
Instead, Regina was sat, twitching nervously, on a bar stool at Granny's working up the courage to cross the room and have a conversation.
With who, you may ask?
Emma's Girlfriend.
It had been three days of tentative conversation of comfortable topics and three-too-many pairs of ruined heels since their first day 'working' together, and Regina thought it was about time to rectify whatever grudge the still woman's partner was harvesting for her. Except, apparently it wasn't time, because she couldn't work up the god damn courage to get out of her seat. The woman was sitting just by the window, right in her periphery, and she didn't look threatening in the least. In fact, she was quite sure she'd yawned at least 6 times in the last few minutes, and yet Regina sat all but trembling in fear feet away.
It was embarrassing.
It was this thought, along with a frustrated glance to her dwindling time that threw her to her feet and she found herself standing in front of the woman, still clutching her cold coffee, before she had even taken a full breath.
"Do you mind if I sit?"
Lily's brows shot straight into her hairline and her eyes woke with a hunger Regina knew well - a hunger for a fight, "go right ahead."
She sat slowly, placing her coffee on the table between them and crossing her legs beneath the chair. Lily's eyes hadn't left her face, and it took all Regina had not to let her face fall into the stoic mask of her regal past. It took the rest of her to keep smiling.
"I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot."
Lily scoffed, "I'm not going to disagree." she appraised the women, noticing the tension in her shoulders, and the harsh lines of her face. Before looking at her, Lily was more than ready to keep up her hard-to-please attitude, but looking now at the woman's frozen coffee, she couldn't bring herself to do it, "I could've sworn you were about to hit me a few days ago."
Regina smirked, "I was. And I think Emma suspected as much."
"Yeah, I think she did."
They fell into a comfortable silence, Regina's perfectly manicured nails tapping quietly against the ceramic of her mug. Both women were searching for the words that needed to be said, and just how to present them.
"I wanted-" Regina started, just as the other woman opened her mouth to speak, "Sorry," the women chuckled nervously, "you go first."
Lily ducked her head, smiling in thanks, "I just wanted to apologise for how blatantly rude I was the other day… I'm just a little protective of Emma and I hate seeing her hurt. You deserved better, so I'm sorry for the shitty first impression."
In that moment, Regina was reminded of how very alike this woman was to Emma, and found herself thankful (rather than spiteful) that they had found each other, even as a jealousy so raw burned at her stomach.
"Thank you. I was actually coming over here to apologise as well. And to let you know that you don't have to worry about me hurting Emma. I've made a promise to both her and myself, and now you, that I would never hurt her again. I also wanted you to be sure that you have nothing to worry about from me. All I want is for us to go back to being somewhat friends." She wrapped her left hand around the cup, ensuring the engagement ring was on full display and hiding her wince as it clinked against the ceramic.
Lily looked confused, until her gaze fell on the ring, and her mouth widened in realisation (and wonder because a ring like that would've cost a large fortune), "uh, its okay… It's not like-"
"No, I truly am sorry."
"Honestly - just wow, thats a really nice ring- but Emma and I aren't-" She was cut off by her own cell phone, a glance at the screen showing a stream of urgent messages from Ruby. She barely caught the gist of their reasoning before Regina was standing from her chair opposite her, "I better go. Thank you for listening to me."
She was out the door before Lily had even registered what exactly was happening, "Bye?"
Watching her walk out of Granny's gates (and wondering what the hell Ruby could be this riled up about at 8:30 in the morning) Lily found herself picturing the two women together, as they would have been before everything had happened. Emma had said they were inseparable, just like they had been themselves as kids, but worse. They had done everything together, and (though the older woman didn't know) this closeness had brought ruin to the blonde's relationship with the pirate. She caught herself becoming quickly invested in this renewed friendship, because even over just the last few days, she had seen a spark revived in the depths of Emma's eyes - she had noticed it mirrored in the brunettes this morning. There was something more than what it appeared on the surface, and maybe there was a chance Emma could find true happiness.
And maybe, Regina could too.
Locating people had never troubled Lily. Much like Emma, she had a knack for reading people - a talent that had never failed to surprise even her. Which is why decoding Ruby's coded messages, curtesy of her dramatic flare, was a piece of cake.
What was confusing was why it let her to the town's rather large graveyard.
And right in the middle, menacingly stood a pristine mausoleum.
She had never been a fan of graveyards. While the concept of death was something she had understood, she was never at peace with the dead. As a child, she religiously obeyed wives tales and conspiracies surrounding spirits. While driving past cemeteries she held her breath, she never attended open-casket funerals for fear of the corpse opening its eyes, she never wore pink to school.
Which is why, she reasoned, she let out a scream when her phone vibrated suddenly.
and why her eyes filled when Ruby's message directed her to a vault beneath the mausoleum.
With shaky limbs, she made her way inside and beneath the coffin, surprised to see both Ruby and Henry beneath, stood close and whispering. They broke apart suddenly upon noticing an entrance, relaxing only when realising it was her.
"You took your sweet time" Ruby exclaimed, noticing her drawn features, "are you okay?"
Lily smiled her best (hopefully comforting) smile, "I just don't like graveyards."
The other brunette grimaced, "Sorry."
Shrugging it off, Lily let her eyes roam the stone shelves of which were filled with trinkets and boxes seemingly from another time. On the far side of the room stood a large clothing trunk which Henry had sat himself upon. The decor itself reminded her of an ex boyfriend, who's obsession with the dark ages went much too far.
"Where are we?"
"My moms vault." Henry spoke, chuckling as her eyes widened, "It's ok. She doesn't come down here anymore anyway."
"Pfff. I don't believe it. She's gotta be here every other day to tend to the hearts she's-," silenced by a dark look from the boy beside her, Ruby cleared her throat, "Sorry Hen. Long story short is we've come up with a plan."
"A plan?" Lily questioned.
Ruby nodded, and Henry crossed his arms over his chest proudly before continuing, "We were thinking… Do you remember when you got here and Ma bought you and everyone to Granny's? and you spent all afternoon talking to everyone and it was the first time that my moms had seen each other since Emma left and it was the most awkward thing ever?"
Confused as to both where this was heading and why Henry already expected her to be on his level, Lily nodded slowly, though raised her eyebrow in question. It had been truly awkward, them seeing eachother. So awkward in fact that Lily had used the interaction as a conversation topic with Emma's mother, who had so gladly obliged and launched into a detailed history of the two woman (which, it turned out she already knew).
"We were thinking we need to regain some common ground." Ruby interrupted, watching as Lily's face contorted in anger, "I know, its not ideal since…" a quick glance at Henry, "everything went down, but I can see how much they miss each other. I can't help but think that this is a good idea."
If she were being honest, even the thought of Emma opening herself up to Regina once more enraged her. The simple notion that the woman may hold a piece of the blonde again, and my crush it just like the last time lit a fire within her veins that tightened her fists and reddened her vision. The fact that her friend could be hurt to that extent once more hardened her breathing and pummelled her heart.
But then she remembered that morning.
She remembered the warmth in Regina's eyes as they spoke about Emma, the blatant flaunt of her engagement ring. The promise that she wasn't there to hurt her.
She remembered that Emma was so much stronger now than before, that there was no chance she would let the woman back into her life without complete certainty that it was without pain or loss.
She remembered that feeling of home in a loving friendship.
Looking into Ruby's eyes, she saw her own fears reflected back. With all of this knowledge it was still so hard to be okay with their best friend opening herself back up to the possibility of being hurt again. The woman stepped forward, pulling Lily's hands into her own, "Both you and I know this needs to happen. Emma deserves to make her own decisions, and this is just us letting her do that."
Sighing, Lily nodded.
"Yes!" Henry exclaimed, sliding quickly off the chest and easily pulling both women in to his chest, "I'm so glad this is happening. Let operation Gal Pals commence."
At the woman's shocked looks, he chuckled, "what? I know more than what you think I know. Come on guys, I'm sixteen not twelve."
After her extremely uncomfortable conversation with her girlfriend, Regina found she wasn't quite so nervous to meet up with Emma later that afternoon. In fact, she was glad to say, she was rather looking forward to their daily patrol. The blonde must have sensed this, and (thankfully) made no action to change it. Which left them where they were now, the blonde skipping blissfully up the path beside her, the abandoned farmhouse looming eerily in the distance.
"So, what's bringing us here exactly?"
"I've decided to finally kill you."
Emma smiled over her shoulder, the kind of smile that wasn't supposed to make her heart skip the way it did, "Finally. I've only been waiting 6 years."
Regina laughed, and the blonde relished in the sound, happy to have an afternoon with the woman that wasn't filled with ice-breaker conversation and uncomfortable silences.
"Please. Don't act like I couldn't have done so at any point in our knowing each other."
The blonde smiled again - brighter, more presumptuous. She opened her mouth to retort, flashes of tan torso pinned beneath her, a collision of breath and interrupted moans in her mind, but caught herself in time, her face flushing momentarily.
"I'll give you that," she cleared her throat, "though Henry wouldn't have been happy with you."
"He would've eventually forgiven me. I can be rather charming, you know."
Emma flushed at the truth of the statement, ducking her head with another smile, "yeah, yeah. So why are we really here?"
"It's the second to last place on the outskirts of town we haven't yet been." Having now reached the fence line, Regina crinkled her nose at the moulded smell of the wooden porch - well, what was left of it. The house was crumbling, much more worse for wear than when Robin and Regina first met inside it. The roof was mostly caved in, the front windows broken and porch filled with holes and warped wood. It was uninhabitable, to say the least.
"Something tells me our serial popsicle architect isn't here."
Placing her foot on the porch step, Regina pushed, the board snapping wetly beneath her, "I'll have to agree with you there." she sighed, "that just leaves the stables."
Emma looked over, catching the flash of pain cross the woman's face before it was expertly hidden. The subject of Daniel was always raw and always painful. It was a 'one-too-many-glasses-of-red subject. It sat beside Neal, and was filed closely with certain foster homes locked deep within both of their minds. A subject breached only when absolutely necessary. Taking a step toward Regina, a glint in the distance caught her eye. About 100 feet behind the house stood a giant wooden barn, one of its mammoth doors slightly open. Momentarily forgetting Regina, she squinted at the source of her distraction. Upon its eve hung a cluster of icicles, each brightly catching the dwindling sunlight.
"Wait. There's something back here."
The two woman made there way across the field, aware of the increasing chill in the air as they drew nearer. Stepping inside of the shed, they faced what felt like the inside of a freezer. Ice suffocated the walls, covering them with thick sheets of glass. From the roof and beams dangled monumental icicles, each covered with snowflakes, making them seem as if they were diamonds on a chandelier. The ground was covered in the softest powder, mesmerising as it caught the late afternoon sun. In the centre of the barn, the snow once again hardened, magic carving an intricate pattern in its centre.
A pattern all too familiar to Emma.
"You have got to be kidding me." she laughed, disbelief contorting the sound.
"What?"
"Do you not recognise this?" she pointed to the design of the portal, her eyes wide and bright. Regina stared blankly back at her, "Does this snowflake not look familiar to you?"
The brunette remained blank faced, her eyes flicking between the form and the visibly excited woman beside her, "… No?"
"Gina!" Emma had grabbed her shoulders in excitement, the nickname tightening her chest - a feeling very much like Euphoria blooming quickly from her heart, a laugh bubbling up with it.
"I don't know?"
"Its from Frozen! you know, that Disney movie with the princess who has the ice powers? The one I joked about before? I freaking knew it!" At the words, both women cracked up, tears springing to the brunette's eyes easily, though whether from the laughter or relief she wasn't going to have to visit the stables she wasn't quite sure. The blonde's hands still rested comfortable against her forearms
"How does Disney even do that? I swear that movie was only released a few years ago."
"I'm more concerned with how you recognised that straight away, if I'm being honest." the brunette laughed.
"Hey! I'll have you know I do my research, thank you very much." laughing, they caught each others eyes, emerald bore into chocolate. As if falling into an old habit, they stilled - caught entirely in one another. The brunette's forearms tingled where they remained touching. The blonde's eyes twinkled, enthralled in the other woman's aroma - her atmosphere. The older woman's gaze flicked to pale lips, and without thinking - as if conditioned to do so - Emma leans forward.
Suddenly, the contact is gone. Regina clears her throat and ignores the freezing air as it attacks the diminishing warmth her hands left on her arms, "We better get going then. We do have a princess with a penchant for running away to catch, after all."
Emma laughs, but the sound is off, "See? It was a good movie."
