Five Years Later…
The years pass and Emma learns to live with the hole in her heart. But there isn't day in the last five years where she hasn't thought about the assassin. Former assassin. Regina's never far from her thoughts at all times. She once thought that moving to Granny's old house would help heal her heart. But the silence only makes it worse. So she finds other ways to cope. Carpentry. Old cars. Sometimes she takes the dog out for long runs. Nothing helps. Or rather it's only a bandaid. Because when she's in bed, after making the kid go to sleep, Emma feels the weight of that loneliness pressing down on her chest.
She just has to accept that Regina is gone. And she isn't coming back.
Some days that hollow feeling is manageable. Like today, Emma finds contentment watching Henry get on the bus for his first day of middle school. Her little boy, growing up into a gangly teenager, all torso and long limbs. He's almost as tall as she is. Another summer or two and she'll be looking up at him.
"Where did the time go?" she asks herself watching the bus drive away. Emma gets to her morning routine, calling the dog inside to feed him before she makes a light breakfast for her and forces herself to eat it.
However, Pongo starts barking just as she gets started and someone knocks on her door.
"Pongo... Indoor voice," she tells the dog and he quiets down as she walks toward the door. "Lily, if you came here to punch me in the face again…."
She hears someone shift on their feet before calling back to her. "It's not Lily."
"Regina?" Emma can't open the door fast enough. And there she is, standing right there. Her hair shorter, curlier than before. "You changed your hair…. It looks good. You look good."
"That's all you have to say to me, Emma?" Regina asks. "After five years?"
"Well… yeah, that," she replies before she closes the distance between them. "And this…"
Emma kisses her like no times has passed. Like there hasn't been five years between them. And Regina deepens it just like old times.
"Can I come in?" the former assassin asks.
"You fucking better, your Majesty."
"Well..." Emma begins after she catches her breath. "That happened."
"Twice..." Regina adds with a lazy grin.
Emma props herself on one elbow to peer at Regina. "Oh, really?"
"Yes," the other woman replies. "I'm surprised you didn't catch on."
"I didn't want to overanalyze anything. I just really needed to touch you."
Regina chuckles before she leans in and brushes her lips against Emma. "I've missed so much, Emma."
"I can't believe you're here," Emma says. "A part of me thinks I'm dreaming."
"You dream about me often, dear?"
Emma shakes her head. "Not as often as I want."
She takes Regina's hand into hers and squeezes it. It's not a dream. She's here.
"I'm real, Emma," the other woman says as if she can read her mind.
"Just making sure." Emma chuckles. But Regina's quiet, her brow furrowing with concern. She sees it immediately. "What's wrong?"
"There's something I have to tell you…"
Just as she speaks, there's a knock on the door and Regina tenses.
"Expecting someone?" Emma asks, slipping away from the other woman to reach for a pistol in the nightstand next to her bed.
"Yes," Regina replies, touching Emma's arm. "My friend, Kathryn. And my son."
"You have a son?"
"It's a recent development."
Alright that was the end of the first part of this series. When it's eventually posted I probably going to change this a bit, expanding in a few places and of course add some smut... because of reasons. It will be a wild ride. So look for it.
As always I'm MurderouslyAdorkable on tumblr and MurderouslyCute on twitter. Thanks you guys. Cheers. And Viva La SwanQueen.