Hey !! I was able to write this chapter in less than a week so I hope this update makes y'all happy

Thanks to my beta animezzie and thanks to all the people who review this story !!

Enjoy. ;)

oOoOoOo

Emma was in English class, grading assignments with her English teacher like she had been doing every wednesday for the past weeks. Sometimes, Kathryn would ask Emma about her day and Emma would politely do the same thing, but other than this, the only sound you could hear in the room was the occasional click of heels in the hallways of the school. Yet today, Kathryn was curious. She wanted to have Emma's opinion on her brunette friend since she had seen the way she now behaved in her presence. The two women used to hate each other and, even if Emma was a nightmare with all of the teachers in this building, with Regina it had always been worse, probably because they kind of had similar personalities ; they were both strong women who don't let anyone walk over them. So now, here she was, wondering why things were so different between the two.

Emma had realized really quickly that something was bothering Kathryn and that the blonde wanted to ask her something. She tried to ignore the curious glances of her teacher but she soon became curious herself. She wondered what her teacher could possibly want to know. "Is something bothering you, Ms. Nolan?" she finally asked.

Kathryn seemed taken aback by the question, she thought she had been discreet when she was staring at her student. "No, I was just wondering about something. Nothing important." the teacher said, giving Emma an embarrassed smile at having been caught.

"You can ask, you know. Talking will probably make this less boring." a now very curious Emma replied.

Kathryn looked up from the paper she was grading and put her red pen back on the desk. She took a deep breath before asking the question she wanted to ask so much since Emma had entered the classroom. "I was wondering about ... you and Regina. I mean Ms. Mills."

Emma's eyes widened and she was now staring at Kathryn too. "What ... what about us?"

"I don't know... You tell me."

"There is nothing to tell. Are you insinuating that we are having a... relationship of some kind?" asked a nervous Emma. She started to get scared at the idea of Kathryn having discovered her feelings for the brunette teacher even if it was unlikely to ever happen.

"What do you mean by 'a relationship'? No, I would never insinuate such a thing! I know Regina, she's my best friend. If she ever dated again, it would never be with one of her students. Even if it probably won't ever happen, I don't think she will ever turn the page."

This spiked Emma's curiosity. "What page? Did something... happen to her in the past?"

If you asked Kathryn what made her reply to Emma's question about Regina's personal life, she would tell you she did not know what exactly came over her. Yet, it probably was the concern she heard in Emma's voice. "She lost her husband two years ago. It was really hard for her and if you want my opinion, I believe it still is. She does not have many friends, other than me, I mean. Thankfully, she had Henry. Without him, she would probably feel completely alone. You have met him, right? He's the kindest child I've ever seen. She loves him more than anything and he also is one of the reasons why she will probably never date someone new. The guy would not only have to be good enough for her but also good enough for Henry."

"It's totally normal that she would want to protect her son. From what I've seen, he is all she has."

"Yes, it sure is normal, but I wish she would at least let herself enjoy life. I know it may be hard for you to believe and I understand that. Trust me, it's hard for me too, but she has a lot of love to give. She really is an amazing woman."

"I'm sure she is. You know how much I used to hate her. You two probably spent some of your lunches talking about how annoying I was, yet now that my opinion of her has changed, it's not really hard for me to believe what you're telling me."

"That's crazy, don't you think. How fast things change. Not more than a month ago, I was able to hear you two scream at each other from my classroom and now, you both have changed your view of the other. The High School is way more peaceful now." Kathryn laughed.

Now Emma desperately wanted to know more, happy at the idea of her teacher saying nice things about her. "Did she... Did she talked to you about me? What did she say?"

At Emma's question, Kathryn suddenly seemed to realize who she was talking to. "Nothing that matters. Anyway, I think our time is up. You should probably go, your mother must be waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm- I'm gonna go. I don't think my mother will be home when I arrive though, she has been working late lately. Have a good evening, Ms. Nolan, it was nice talking to you." Emma said as she grabbed her bag and walked towards the door.

"Have a good evening too, Emma."

oOoOoOo

Regina Mills was talking about something, yet Emma had no idea what it was. Half of the students who were actually listening to the brunette probably did not understand anything either but certainly not for the same reason as Emma Swan. Head on her hand, she had been daydreaming about her teacher during half of the hour already.

Regina Mills is perfect, Emma decided. There was not one single bad thing about her. Today was one of those exceptional days where Regina wore a dress. This dress wasn't just a dress, it was the dress. The first time Emma saw Regina, she was wearing this exact same purple dress, and since this day, it has been Emma's favorite. Its color matched the purple high heels she wore whenever she had this dress on. It also made her ass look divine.

She only came back to earth when she realized that a really loud voice she loved so much was calling her name.

"Miss Swan! Have you even been listening to one word I have pronouced since you have entered my classroom?!" an angry looking Regina was asking her.

Emma quickly sat straight on her chair. "O-... of course, Ms. Mills. You were telling us about... stuff. Interesting stuff, as always." Regina arched a brow and an amused smirk was starting to appear on her face.

"Oh? Then I guess you won't mind doing a small summary for the class. I am sure most of you have not understood a thing but that is not so surprising because contrary to Miss Swan, you have been daydreaming." said Regina using a sarcastic tone.

"Ummm... I don't think I need to... I mean I'm sure they were listening to you." Emma knew Regina was only playing with her by the amusement she could clearly hear in the brunette's voice.

"Hum. If you say so. Quit daydreaming in my class Miss Swan, I would not want to have to punish you once again."

The hidden meaning behind Regina's words made Emma's face turn a deep shade of red. She did not mean it like this you pervert, thought Emma.

oOoOoOo

Emma absentmindedly picked at vegetables with her fork. All of her friends were talking about uninteresting gossip but the blonde wasn't listening to them at all. Since history class, she had not stopped thinking about a certain brunette. She wondered if Regina had realized that the blonde was staring at her. The idea of being caught would have mortified her in normal times but the fact that Regina had had such a nice reaction to it only made her incredibly happy. Two weeks ago, she would have finished with five hours of detention for the same thing, yet today Regina had just gently warned her.

Emma quickly had enough of her friends' choice of topic. She was about to stand up to throw the rest of her food in the trash when she heard someone call her name. She looked up from her plate and her three friends were staring at her curiously.

"Emma?! Have you been listening to us?" Ruby asked.

"Oh no, sorry, I was just thinking about something." Emma replied. She hoped that they would not try to include her in their conversation. She knew that Ruby loved to talk about the new couples in the school but Emma found this completely boring.

"Something or... someone?" winked the tall brunette.

"What does that mean? Are you dating someone?" a now very curious Graham asked. "You would not hide it from me, right?"

"Wait... you haven't told him?"

"Told me what? Is there something I don't know?"

"Emma likes Ms. Mills." Belle blurted out. She almost looked sorry when she saw the look Emma shot her. Almost.

"You mean as like like or like like."

"Like as she has heart eyes whenever she sees her." Ruby joked. "Yeah I know, It's quite shocking the first time you hear it but you're gonna get used to it soon."

"Ruby! Stop this, I don't want to talk about Regina in public. Someone could hear us!"

"Actually, it doesn't really shock me. I mean Mills is the hottest teacher in the whole building. She and Emma spend most of their time fighting and that's probably because they actually like each other but are too scared to admit it."

"What? Do you think that she may like me too?"

"Yeah, I think she does. My parents used to fight a lot when I was a child and when I asked them about why they were always so angry at the other, they would tell me that it was because they were in love." Graham reasoned.

"Didn't your parents divorce because they were cheating on each other?" Ruby asked, raising a brow.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess my theory about Ms. Mills being in love with you may not be a hundred percent true. But I'm sure she doesn't hate you as much as you think she does."

Emma rolled her eyes. Graham sometimes said some really dumb things. His parents surely spent their time fighting but it's not because they loved each other but because they both loved someone else.

"Anyway, I think you two would be hot together. You should try and see if you could have a chance with her at least. You, Emma Swan, are the best at seducing women." winked Graham.

"Oh please, you know that's not true."

"Really? Need I remind you that ninety percent of the girls in the high school go crazy when you do nothing but stare at them?"

"If you say so." laughed Emma standing up and walking to the trash with her tray. She knew that Graham was telling the truth. Since the day she had been caught having sex with a girl in the bathroom, she never had a problem with finding a girlfriend, even if most of her relationships only lasted three hours. She had been single for more than six months now but she did not really mind. Emma now was sure of it, she would try to know who Regina really was and maybe, only maybe, her dream of finishing her days with the brunette would come true. Finishing my days with her, god, where did this come from, thought Emma, chuckling.

The bell rang and Emma walked towards the science class waving at her friends who were still seated at their lunch table.

oOoOoOo

"It was nice to see you at the park. I didn't expect to run into you and Henry." Emma said.

Regina chuckled. "I surely was not expecting to see you either. I am sorry about lying to you by the way."

"No problem, I get it." smiled Emma.

Emma was once again seated in a chair in front of Regina's desk. The brunette was working on her computer but she did not seem to mind Emma's presence at all. She actually wanted to talk to Emma. Not having many friends, she rarely shared normal discussions with anyone other than Kathryn but her blonde student seemed to be waiting impatiently for her response whenever she asked her a question. The brunette had a hard time understanding Emma's behavior toward her but she was certainly not going to complain.

"It was nice to meet Zelena. If you had told me you had a sister I would never have imagined her to be so... so..."

"So what, Miss Swan ?" Regina asked with a smirk. She knew that Emma was trying to find a way to describe her sister without being rude and she also understood how hard it was.

"... different. She surely is different." laughed the blonde. "Do you two get along well? I'm not saying you seemed to hate each other but you were quite angry at her at one point and I was just wondering why."

"Well, we used to loathe each other. When my parents passed away, she blamed me. They were supposed to join me on a trip in the Caribbean when their jet crashed and I understand her point of view. Without me insisting they would come, who knows, they could still be alive today. You know, for a while, I hated myself too. We only got close again when my... my husband passed away."

Emma could see the tears starting to form in Regina's eyes. From what Kathryn had told her, the brunette's husband used to mean the world to her. She wondered if Regina would mind if she asked about him. After all, she wanted to get to know the brunette. She wanted Regina to trust her like she would trust a friend. She knew that she probably already did. Being an extremely private person, Regina would never tell any of her students about her parents or anything related to personal issues.

"Would you like to talk to me about it? If you don't, we will just stop and change our topic of discussion. I won't mind." Emma said, taking Regina's hand which was on the desk in hers.

The brunette took a deep breath. It was the first time she actually felt like talking about her deceased husband. Most of the times, when Zelena or even Kathryn asked her if she wanted to share her feelings about Daniel, she shut them down. Yet, she felt like Emma would not judge anything she could say. She felt like maybe, the blonde would actually be helpful. She used to see a therapist but she did not trust the woman and as a consequence, the experience had not helped her at all even if it made her realize that she needed to get better for the sake of her son.

"His name was Daniel. We met in High School and we quickly became best friends. I never saw him as more than this at the time, even if my parents always thought we had more than friendly feelings for each other. When I went to college, our ways got separated but not for long. He worked in a bar near my apartment in the city. Whenever I had a free day and he had to work, I would join him there and we would talk. That's when we met Maleficent by the way." said Regina looking at Emma with an embarrassed smile at the memory of the night her student had met her old friend.

"The woman from the club, right?"

"Yes, that one. We were so happy. The three of us, I mean. At the time, Zelena and I... it was complicated. She told you that she actually is my half-sister. My mother cheated on my father approximately a year after my birth and she got pregnant. It was a hard time for my parents but they survived it and my father accepted Zelena as his own daughter. Yet, growing up, we were always fighting and it got worse when my parents told her the truth about her real father. When I left the family house for college, we only saw each other at Christmas and at my mother's birthday. I regret this, you know. Not keeping any contact, it probably did not make things better." she sighed.

"You cannot blame yourself. If she didn't want to see you, and you didn't want to see her either, you are both equally to blame here."

"I guess so but I just can't help feeling guilty. As I told you, when my parents died, everything got worse. She hated me and we talked to each other only when we had no other choice. Maleficent was working in another country at the time. Daniel was the only person I had left. He was there for me and he helped me a lot through this. I only was 26 and I had never imagined I would lose my parents so soon. He took care of me for a year and at one point, I realized that our relationship had evolved in something else. After this... everything happened really quickly. I was 28 when we got married." Regina chuckled sadly at the memory of her marriage. Daniel's family had been there but Zelena had chosen not to come even if Regina had invited her. She will never forget this day. It was so... perfect even if she felt like something, someone was missing.

"He sounds like an amazing man. You're very lucky to have found him but, it almost looks like it was meant to happen, right ?"

Regina then realized that her hand was still clutched in Emma's. The tears in her eyes were threatening to spill but the warmth which flooded through her body because of Emma's hand stopped them.

"It was. It took me a long time to realize it but, yes, it was." said the brunette with a sad smile. "The next four years were amazing and full of happiness, until we realized that something or more precisely someone was missing. I gave birth to Henry four years ago. It was the most beautiful day of my life, to see him in Daniel's arms for the first time. Henry loved his father so much."

When she glanced at the picture of Henry with his father situated on her desk, tears did start to flood down her cheeks. She had never cried in front of someone because she always wanted to appear as a strong woman, yet she did not feel ashamed about crying in front of Emma.

"Henry was sick this day and I had to work. I had been appointed as principal less than a month ago at the time and I could not go and take him home. On the way there, a car crashed into his. We later learned that... the man who drove the other car was drunk. The hardest part was... was to tell... to tell my son."

Her voice broke at the last sentence and she broke into tears. Emma quickly stood up and walked behind the desk. She knew that nothing she could say would help Regina so she just decided to be there for her physically. She opened her arms and Regina immediately let herself fall into them.

They stayed like this for a long time. So long that the room soon became very dark. Regina had now stopped crying, her head rested on Emma's shoulder and her arms were wrapped tightly around the blonde. Emma wondered if the brunette was finally calm or if she simply had no more tears to cry.

"I- I'm sorry for breaking down like this. I have never talked about this, about him like that and I- I could not control myself."

"That's fine. You needed it." Emma smiled and stroked Regina's dampened cheek with the back of her hand. "Is Henry waiting for you?"

Regina walked towards the mirror on the wall to fix her make-up and her hair. "Yes, he must be. He is at my sister's place."

"Do you think you will be able to drive to her house or do you want me to get him while you go home? I could cook him something while you go to sleep." At Emma's offer, Regina turned back toward her.

"I don't want to bother you with-"

"I want to do it. I will keep an eye on him and put him to bed. I'm his baby-sitter after all. Come on, we will take my car."

Regina thanked the blonde, grabbed her coat and walked out of the office, following Emma. I can't believe I'm letting her do this again. Why does she insist so much on taking care of me?