The Beauty of the Beast

Chapter 25

Emma had not been able to sleep all night and now that she was on her way to pick up Regina and Henry for his riding lesson, she felt sick.

She had tried to forget about that dream she had had the other night, but she had not been able to get it out of her head.

Was it possible that she was falling for Regina Mills? For real?

Deep down Emma knew the answer to that question already, but she tried to ignore it.

Regina could never know about this because that would ruin everything.

The mayor would probably laugh about her and Emma would not be able to handle that.

She had never been someone people had desired or longed for, but getting rejected by someone like Regina would be devastating, especially now that they were a family.

Emma sighed heavily when she parked her car, cursing herself for falling in love with the one person on the planet, who would never be interested in her.

What could an intelligent and regal woman like Regina could see in her? Nothing.

She took a deep breath and climbed out of the bug, feeling more nervous than ever when she headed to the mansion's front door.

How should she act around Regina? How should she hide what she had revealed?

But before she could have thought about it Regina swung the door open, "Good morning, Miss Swa…Emma."

Emma stopped dead in her tracks, startled about being called 'Miss Swan' because the mayor had not called her that in forever.

Did Regina already know? But how on earth could that be possible?

Regina had been pacing around in the hallway for about half an hour, trying to figure out what to do.

She had not gotten any sleep last night because her mind had been one big jumble. The realization that she was falling in love with Emma had made it impossible for her to calm down for a minute.

Having a family had been too good to be true. Of course something had to happen and take it away from her because Regina knew, sooner or later, the truth would come out somehow. That was just her luck.

And then everything would be over.

It was a miracle that she was able to feel something again and if the situation would not be so complicated, she would be more than happy.

Why did she have to grow feelings for Emma Swan of all people?

Regina knew exactly why, but she wished it would not be true none-the-less.

This was a disaster.

She would try to hide the uncomfortable truth as long as possible by acting "normal".

But then she had caught sight of Emma, who had been walking up to the house and she had paniced. She had pulled the door open in a hurry although the blonde had not even knocked, like she had been waiting around like a lovesick teenager. Well, she had done that, kind of.

And as if that had not been bad enough, Regina had talked without thinking.

'Good morning, Miss Swan?'

Really?

Emma's face had fallen right that second. Best way to get the blonde suspicious.

And now they were standing there, Regina in the doorframe, Emma on the porch, eyeing each other awkwardly.

This was so wrong, but the mayor did not know what to say and obviously the blonde did not either.

"Mom, where are my boots?"

Henry stormed down the stairs, but when he caught the scene in front of him he stopped immediately. What was going on?

Were his mothers fighting again? They had come so far, they could not ruin it now.

"Mom? Emma? Is everything okay?"

He looked at Regina, then at Emma and back, worried that something bad was about to happen.

Emma realized that they were scaring their son, so she finally spoke, "Everything's fine, kid. Don't worry. I'm just a little tired, I didn't sleep well."

Something was up, Regina was acting weird, but that had to wait because she did not want to worry Henry.

"Emma is right, sweetheart. I'm a little tired as well because I have been up late…but besides that everything is okay", the mayor gave her son a small smile, "And your boots might be in the garage. Go, get them…we don't want to be late."

The drive to the stables had been a quiet one because Emma and Regina had been so lost in their thoughts and that had not stayed unnoticed by Henry.

He did not know what was going on, but he would figure it out eventually. He might not be able to put a finger on it yet, but his mothers could not fool him. Something was going on, definitely.

Regina had headed for the paddocks to check on Melech immediately and Emma had stood there, watching his mother disappear.

He started to wonder what this was about? Both his mothers had told him that they had not gotten much sleep last night, so it had to be something big.

But what could it be? They had been fine all this weeks. What could have happened causing them to act so strange?

"I don't mind if you check on mom, you know. I will be busy anyway."

Emma had looked at Henry in surprise, but had nodded in the end, thankful for her smart son and had left to talk to the mayor.

Regina was standing next to Melech, ready to take him for a walk, when she caught sight of Emma, who was headed into her direction.

She started to panic once again and the sensitive stallion sensed that immediately and the horse bopped her with its nose, obviously to give her some courage, which caused Regina to smile.

Emma stopped a few feet away, careful to keep some distance between herself and the paddock because of Melech.

She did not want to upset the stallion, "Regina, can I…can I talk to you for a minute?"

The mayor hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded. Avoiding Emma would cause just more trouble, would get the blonde only more suspicious, "Come closer…slowly."

"Are you sure about that? What if Melech gets worked up or something…" Emma could not believe that Regina wanted her to do that.

"Everything will be fine. Just walk slowly…", but the mayor saw the sceptical look on Emma's face, "Trust me. It will be okay."

The blonde still did not feel comfortable, but took a step forward anyway, while Regina was whispering to the stallion, "Please don't let me down, my beautiful boy."

It had taken all of Emma's courage to enter the paddock, but now that she was standing next to Regina, she felt a bit safer and Melech seemed to be okay with her presence.

When the stallion's nose grazed the blonde's hand, Emma looked at the mayor in surprise and Regina smiled satisfied, "Just open your hand, Emma. Melech wants to get to know you."

Emma was so surprised by Regina's statement, that she was startled for a moment, but then she did as she was told and she felt the stallion's nostrils roam softly over the palm of her hand.

And Emma felt so proud because of all the progress the mayor and her horse had made, it was simply a miracle.

She turned to face the mayor, careful to not move her hand, "Regina, that's…that's amazing. You did it. You really made him trust again." A smile appeared on Emma's face and the mayor curled her lips in a smile at the blonde's comment as well, "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

And then Emma's and Regina's eyes locked, causing all their surroundings to disappear completely.

In that moment they saw nothing, but one another. They saw each other for who they truly were.

The moment at the paddock had left Emma and Regina even more confused than before, but on the other hand both of them had calmed down a little none-the-less.

Simply because they had been comfortable in each other's presence and that had made the awkward feeling disappear.

Henry had talked them into going to Granny's for dinner and neither Regina, nor Emma had dared to say 'No' and now that they were sitting at the diner, Emma and Regina stole glances at each other, whenever the other one was not looking.

And this time Henry got really suspicious. What the hell was going on? This whole thing was getting weirder and weirder.

"I need to go to the Sheriff's station real quick. I forgot some folders I wanted to check on the weekend. Do you mind?"

Emma looked at Regina, who shook her head and Henry jumped up quickly, "I'm coming with you."

That said he stormed out of the diner before his mothers could have told him to stay.

Right that second Mary Margaret entered Granny's and ordered a coffee to go.

Emma waved at her mother, who made it over to the booth quickly and Regina rolled her eyes in annoyance.

That was exactly what she needed. Not.

"Hello Emma, Good evening Regina."

"Listen…I need to head over to the station, Henry is already waiting for me, but I'll be back in a few. Will you still be here then?" The blonde looked at her mother expectantly.

"I just wanted to grab a coffee, but sure…I can wait". Mary Margaret smiled sweetly.

"Cool. See you in a bit", then Emma turned to face Regina, "I'll be right back."

Regina could not believe it.

Emma had left her there with Mary Margaret? All by herself?

She watched to blonde leave, watched her take Henry's hand, watched her walk down the street, watched her until Emma was out of sight.

And once the blonde had disappeared Regina felt lost.

"Well, take a seat then, Miss Blanchard." The mayor growled through gritted teeth, just to recognize that shocked expression on Mary Margaret's face.

What did she do now?

Mary Margaret Blanchard was in shock.

She slid into the booth quickly while her heart was beating out of her chest. She must have been hallucinating. This could not be true.

That look.

The way Regina had looked at Emma, had watched her go.

No, this was impossible.

Mary Margaret glanced over at the mayor, just to recognize that Regina was completely lost in thought and then she knew it was true, "Oh my God."

Regina's eyes shot up, glaring at her in confusion, "What?!"

The expression on her own face must have given everything away because the mayor's jaw dropped only a second later and Mary Margaret did not know what to do.

She had seen that look often enough to know what it meant. Well, it was back in Fairytale Land, but that did not change anything.

She had witnessed people looking longingly at their loved ones all the time – before Regina had become evil and had taken away the happy endings. If she had learned one thing over the years than it was what that look meant. She was the expert when it came to True Love after all. And that was what made this situation so bizarre.

Mary Margaret had not wanted to ask, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself, "You are in love with Emma, aren't you?"