Never trust a mercenary

The lock clicked open and Emma and Henry got into the house.
" We're home!" Henry yelled taking off his scarf ad jacket. Emma imitated him, frowning. Home. That was Henry's home, yes, but not hers. Where was her home? At Mary Margaret's she felt good, but it wasn't so good to say that it was home. She was a guest, for how her parents could deny it. Boston? Needless to say that her apartment was just a place where to sleep. Maybe the place closest to a home for her was her car.
Regina came smiling out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel.
" Hey, sweetie, how's been the afternoon?"
" Cool! I've been with David and Mary Margaret when Emma was with Hook, and they told me of when they were in the forest and they fought with the trolls! I wanna see a troll, mom! And then David taught me a secret move with the sword, it took a bit before I understood how to do it, and then Emma joined us at the beach and he taught her too, and Mary Margaret said that she could try to use her bow too, and..."
" Okay, Henry, okay, I got it, you had fun." Regina softly laughed, caressing his cheek. " You'll tell me better while we dine. Now go wash your hands, the dinner's almost ready."
The kid brightly smiled. " Okay!" he exclaimed before running to the bathroom.
Emma gazed at Regina.
" Lemme guess: lasagna." she sneered.
Regina though looked suddenly serious, almost worried. What the hell...?
" It's my fault, Emma, not yours. "
The Savior furrowed her brow, confused. " What?"
" You can't feel home because you're not. " the brunette said before turning and going back in the kitchen.
Emma, after a moment of surprised hesitation, followed her. " Whoa, why, wait, were you reading my thoughts? Hi, Shaya."
The warrior just nodded at her. She was standing in the kitchen, leaning with her hips against the shelf next to the sink, arms crossed and a worried face.
" No, but your emotions were so strong that I heard them. You were basically... magically shouting, Emma. "
The Savior arched an eyebrow. " Well, we need to find a solution to this problem. I'd rather not hear other kind of shouts."
With a glance to the warrior, Emma found out that she was violently blushing, as she suspected. The Savior couldn't hide a smile, but it disappeared when's he noted that Regina was glaring at her.
" Don't worry, dear, I have the control of my power."
" Hey! I'm a beginner!"
Regina grinned. " Yes, and I have some homework for you. " she said while waving her right hand in the air. A book appeared on the table from the purple fog. It was an old one, with silver decorations, gold clasps, and a red stone shaped as a heart in the middle of the cover. Emma warily glanced at the brunette.
" I ain't gonna read that thing."
Regina raised an eyebrow. " You most surely will, dear, or you'll never learn anything." she said with those tone and gaze, the ones that made her feel young, ignorant and stupid.
" Y-you can teach me, I don't need that book! Don't you have another one, at least?"
Regina pursued her lips and furrowed her brown in a half disappointed, half amused face. " I've learned from that book, Emma..."
" Well, yes, exactly, that's the thing."
Regina looked confused. " Sorry?"
Emma sighed. " Okay, don't take it the wrong way, but... who gave you that book? Cora? "
Regina clenched her jaw. Okay, maybe she was taking it the wrong way. " Rumplestiltskin." she answered lowering her voice in a sort of growl. Emma swallowed.
" Yeah, and things didn't exactly go good since you had this, isn't it?"
Regina glowered at her. " Oh, I would say quite the opposite, dear. Magic saved me. Maybe the wrong way, but it did, when anybody could or wanted to do it. So, no, Emma, it isn't. It's not the book, it's how you use what you learn from it. Your fear is senseless. " she harshly said, clenching something inside Emma. Regina could try to hide it, but Emma felt that she was hiding her feelings, and so she knew that she was suffering. She suddenly regretted her words.
" Emma, Regina is right. " Rapunzel softly said stepping forward and leaning a hand on the book. " This is just a book. Quite a precious one, let me say. Here there are the most useful and powerful spells that ever existed. If you don't want to listen to the most powerful witch of any realm, alright, be my guest, you may have your reasons." Shaya smirked, making her blush and glance down. Young, ignorant and stupid. Fuck. " But listen to this: you are power, Emma. If you don't learn to control yourself, you'll always be unstable. You'll always risk to hurt someone without wishing it. Think about Red. She was about in your same situation. "
The Savior locked gaze again with the warrior. She was right, Emma knew it. But what she had done to Finnegan... She hadn't needed any spell, any book. She had just thought it. Emma told them. Shaya looked impressed, but Regina had a weird expression that Emma couldn't work out.
" I know, Emma, I saw it. You were angry, I suppose, and frightened. Your instinct worked for you. But what if you aren't angry enough? What if you're not afraid and you need that power again?" Regina questioned, making a step towards her.
" If I ever need that power again, I bet that I'll be hella scared, again."
" Aargh, you're so annoyingly stubborn!" Regina growled, angrily passing before her and going next to Rapunzel. She then bent and opened the oven. Shaya handed her a hot pad. Regina grasped it and took off the baking tray. " Henry!" she shouted, walking out of the kitchen to reach the dining room, followed by the two women. The table was set so elegantly that Emma stared at it open-mouthed for a while.
" Shaya did it, if you're wondering. " Regina harshly said glaring at her while putting the baking tray on the table, between silver, flowers, stem glasses and an exaggerate amount and variety of food. The large table looked ready for a royal banquet. Not that it was anything else, Emma thought with an inner smirk.
" If you didn't want me to..." Rapunzel began to say, but Regina stopped her with a glance.
" It's just a bit too much, dear. This ain't a castle. We're just four, and there's food for twenty..."
The warrior shrugged. " Twenty... Twenty what? Twenty ladies afraid that their corset could get too tight, maybe, but bring here a couple of dwarves, you'll see how much of this will remain..."
" I'm not going to bring in my house those hateful miners, dear."
" ... Or just me. I can eat much, really. And I bet she can do it, too. And children do eat much. And we come from a wearying day, I figured that we'd all be hungry, despite the lunch, and..."
" Okay Shaya, alright, I got it, don't worry!" Regina stopped her, smiling at her. The warrior blushed and glanced down, nervously playing with a knife. Regina stopped serving sizes and approached her. " Hey, really, I got it. And I appreciate that you cooked for us. I was rude, as always. We'll eat tomorrow the leftovers. I'm sorry."
Emma watched the warrior frown and gaze at the brunette. There was only silence for a bit. Then Rapunzel gave a smirk. " I'm just afraid to annoy you." she shyly murmured, making Emma goggle. Annoy? No, seriously? Shaya was clearly weary, and despite this she had cooked for an army, probably only to have more probability to get Regina's taste, and she thought that she could be annoying?
Regina, fortunately, looked to have the same thoughts. She chuckled and went back serving sizes. " Annoy me? Really? Because you give me too many attentions?" Regina asked raising an eyebrow, her lips slightly pursued.
The warrior nodded once. " Here it is, you see? Too many, you said it. I was..."
" Wrong! Shaya, think! You know me!" Regina bursted out, staring at the blonde. " Do you really think that someone I love, taking care of me, could ever annoy me?"
Rapunzel looked away, slightly blushed. She sighed, frowning. Something was wrong, Emma knew it, but what was wrong, that was a mystery. Regina suddenly grabbed Shaya's face and turned it, forcing her to look at her. They stared at each other for a while, the Regina clenched her jaw.
" You still don't really believe it, uh?" the brunette asked with a low, dark voice. Emma swallowed. Shaya's eyes were getting wet. Regina's too. The former Queen leaned forward, pressing her fingers against the fair skin. " I do love you!" she snarled, gritting her teeth. Shaya tried to reply, but Regina's voice covered hers. " Why can't you believe me? Why can't anybody believe me?" she asked in an angry whisper, a couple of tears that made her cheeks shine.
" I..." Shaya was saying, but Emma talked, without even realizing it.
" I believe you." she said, making the former Mayor look at her with that same astonished face she always did when Emma supported her. Sometimes she wondered how alone she had had to be in her life. Even if it was half of how she herself had been, it was enough. " And she does, too, but, Regina, I think that she's afraid that this is all just a dream? And if she really believes you, I guess that she thinks that she could wake up, and not find you there, and that would destroy her."
Rapunzel was looking at her with wide open eyes, and her jaw dropped. " What... How can you know it?" she astonishingly asked, leaning her weight on her right hand, grasped around the chair she had in front of her.
Emma gave her a slight smile. " Because it's what I would think. I know how it feels when the person you love sends you in a place where you can't reach them for a long time, and then you see them again." Emma's voice lowered, as her gaze. " You don't want to lose them again." she whispered. The Savior gave a start when two little arms hugged her from behind. She turned and raised her left arm to look at Henry, who sadly smiled at her, making her smile in turn.
" Maybe he's still alive, momma. He's Rumplestiltskin's son! He hates magic, but maybe he could use it to save his own life!"
" Henry..."
" Henry might be right, Emma. You said that he was still alive when he fell in the portal, after all. " Regina said glancing at her son. " There's still hope." she added with a soft but still tensed smile. Henry brightly smiled at her.
" Yes!"
" But we could be wrong, kid. You have to accept it. He didn't come back, and we don't know if he ever will." Emma objected, as delicately as she could, while her heart was breaking into pieces. She was truly afraid that it could actually break, like Shaya's did. But it didn't. It hadn't broke it when Neal had handed her over to the police, and it didn't now. There was just one possible explanation: Neal wasn't her True Love. She loved him, but he wasn't it. Emma wondered how was it possible to love someone more than she loved Neal. She gazed at her son, and smirked. Maybe she knew the answer, after all.

The food brought back the serenity on their faces. They ate until they could, and in the end the leftovers weren't as much as Regina feared.
When they finished, which means even after the large amount of glasses of apple cider, Henry was the only one who didn't want to go to bed and sleep thirty hours straight, maybe even because he was the only one who didn't drink. But he had to do it anyway.
" Tomorrow you have to go to school, Henry. " Regina said while tucking him in. " You'll watch tv in the afternoon."
" But I wanted to stay with you all! Emma is here today! It's my only occasion!"
" Who says it?" Emma asked, appearing behind her. Regina turned to look at her, one eyebrow arched and a half smile on her face. Emma was leaning against the door jamb, her arms crossed under her breasts.
" Are you squatting in my house, Miss Swan?"
The Savior sneered. " Don't try me, sister."
Regina rolled her eyes and focused again on her son, who was wildly smiling.
" What are you smiling at?" she asked him, nodding towards him.
He bit his lower lip. " Nothing." he mumbled, still smiling although he was trying to stop.
Regina could repress her own smile just for a second more. She suddenly moved her hands and began tickling Henry, biting in turn her lower lip in order not to laugh with him.
" Ah, nothing, uh? Nothing, he says! We'll see if it's really nothing, oh, yes that we'll see it! Ah, my little Prince, you can't lie to me!" she said, half laughing, continuing to tickle him. Henry was doubling over with laughter, convulsively trying to stop her with his hands and yelling some "stop!" and " mom!" between the laughs.
Regina stopped for a second. " Mom? Oh, no, my poor, little Prince... I'm the Evil Queen, remember?" she said with a grin, that suddenly got into a laughter as she began again tickling him.
" Stop! Stop! Please! " Henry yelled, laughing. This time Regina stopped. They locked gaze, and something passed between them. It was a while that they didn't do this. Years. Regina felt her eyes get a bit wet, and smiled at her son. She had never felt so happy. The brunette had to glance down, and took time clearing her voice, even because she didn't really trust it.
" Sleep, now." she softly said, leaning forward and kissing her son's forehead. She lingered in that position, shutting her eyes, enjoying the contact with him, his smell, his hair rushing against her nose, moved by her breath.
When she was about to move, Henry hugged her, wrapping his arms around her neck, startling her. The boy kissed her on her cheek, the hugged her tight one last time before letting her go, breathless.
" Goodnight, mom." he said smiling sweetly.
Regina managed to close her mouth and smiled back at him, swallowing back the tears, feeling her cheek ache for the strength of her own smile.
" Goodnight, sweetie." she whispered standing up. She turned to leave his room, meeting Emma's dumbfounded face. Of course she had supposed that she had been a cold mother, unable to make her son have fun. Well, she was just about to know how wrong she was.
" Don't make that face, Miss Swan. You're still the irresponsibly funny mother, don't worry. I won't steal your crown. " Regina winked at her. She saw her roll her eyes and head to Henry's bed, then bend to kiss him in turn before exiting the room and entering her own.
Regina locked the door behind her and gazed at the falls of gold standing at her window. Shaya turned to look at her with a sweet, little smile already on her face.
" Is he fine?" the warrior asked, making a few steps towards her. She stopped on the other side of the bed.
The brunette nodded. " Yes, he'll fall asleep in minutes while "secretly" reading The Avengers under his sheets, with the torch. I hide them under his bed every morning before waking him up, so he thinks that he did it just before falling asleep. Scolding him for two pages at night would be idiotic." Regina replied while undressing. She saw Shaya blush and look away out of the corner of her eye.
" You can watch, dear." Regina murmured, openly gazing at her, a smile dancing around her lips.
Shaya swallowed and gave her nothing more than a quick glance, violently blushing. " I-I don't think it's appropriate, Regina. Your son is in the room next to this one, and your walls don't look that thick as they should. "
The brunette stifled a laughter while slowly taking off her bra, and elegantly throwing it on the bed. Shaya looked about to have an heart attack, but she obstinately stared at the wall at her right.
" You so consider yourself good enough to make me scream?" Regina provocatively asked, walking to the bed. She then bent and put her hands on it, leaning her weight on them. She wasn't really sure that Shaya could still breath when she began to go on all fours, slowly, trying to be as loose as she could, getting close to the warrior.
" J-judging by my past experiences, I'd say yes, Regina, I do consider myself good enough. But, more than this, what I fear are my screams. If I'd... reach the pleasure thanks to you... I'm truly afraid."
Regina stood kneeling, surprised. " Past experiences?"
Shaya glanced at her. " I'm a warrior, not a virgin. And I was already over seventy when I first saw you."
" Are you telling me that since when you saw me...?"
Shaya pinched her lips and glanced down, avoiding her dazed stare. " I couldn't feel any interest for anybody else. " she murmured.
Regina moved and took her hand, and the warrior clenched her jaw. She had really waited for her. For all of those years, Shaya had been alone, she chose to be it, she chose not to forget her. She had been alone in turn, but she had had Graham, at least. " Shaya, are you really telling me that you didn't make sex for half a century because of me?"
The blonde's cheeks reddened again. " A-aye." she murmured, still looking at the floor. " But it's not like I'm an ascetic. I mean... you know..." she shrugged as her voice faded, her cheeks redder than ever. She then suddenly gazed at her. " But you don't have to feel responsible for it! It wasn't a thing that I actually did, I mean, I just couldn't feel... attracted by anybody. It's not like I didn't want to have a relationship, I mean, I thought that I'd never get to be with you, so... I tried, but I just couldn't. And, as people usually grew fond of me, I stopped. I didn't want to uselessly hurt them. I wouldn't have been happy anyway. " she concluded in a whisper.
Regina leaned forward, holding her hand with hers and touching her face with the other one, guiding her eyes to hers.
" Is there something you do only for yourself?" she asked, a smile that slightly narrowed her eyes. Shaya pressed her lips together.
" Why should I? Living for myself only was terrible. I did terrible things, things that I regret everyday. Then you came and knocked me down and smashed me again into who I am, and I started living for... you. I don't see why should I stop now."
" Because you're a person, that's why!" Regina laughed. " People do think of themselves. It's called survival, I guess. "
Shaya gave a smirk. " Thought I was quite good in surviving..."
" You are, indeed! But..." Regina moved on her knees, getting even closer to the warrior, slightly touching her left arm with her breasts. She clearly felt her shiver, and couldn't so repress a smile. Shaya was too tall for her to be able to kiss her in that position, yet her almost bare body could be enough to convince her to stoop and shorten that annoying distance. " ...you're way too honorable to be one who can love me. People like you hate people like me." the brunette continued, furrowing her brows. Shaya snorted, slightly shaking her head.
" People like me? Is the woman who stayed alive for thirty years only to seek revenge, and then stayed alive only to stay alive, raising money by torturing and killing people and, let me tell you, sometimes really enjoying her job, way too much for a "honorable" person, you're talking about? Because in that case, aye, people like me do hate people like you, but not because of your behavior, more like because of your power, which they deeply envy or fear."
Regina stared at the woman she loved, and she slowly realized that she loved her even more, after those words. She didn't know why, but she knew what she was feeling. The former Queen smiled brightly.
" Yes, that woman. My woman." she said, grabbing the large shirt that Shaya used to sleep and pulling the surprised warrior on the bed, upon her as she let herself fall on her back. Shaya's hair fell around them as a golden curtain. Her face was right over hers, her brows knitted. Regina could feel her weight over her belly, basically the only part in contact with the warrior's body. Shaya knew, just as she knew it, that she was too heavy to lay on her, so she was keeping the upper part of her body up: her strong arms were next to her head, bent, so her weight was on her elbows, and this made her triceps stay contracted, and Regina liked it. She caressed the soft curve under the right sleeve, enjoying that sensation.
" Y-your..." the blonde began to say, but she hesitated. Regina locked gaze with her, using her free hand to caress her lips.
" Say it." the brunette whispered with an encouraging, soft gaze.
Shaya softly sighed, then swallowed, then spoke under her voice. " Your woman." she said, her eyes getting wet.
Regina couldn't help but smile. " Yes. And I'm yours. " she said leaving the arm and cupping her face between her hands, raising then to kiss her.
Their lips met, softly brushing against each other, leaving soon the game to the tongues. Shaya bent her arms, accompanying her to the sheets, letting Regina's body relax under her heat.
" No." she murmured, locking gaze with her. " You're anyone's."
Regina had a feeling, so vivid and intense that it seemed a vision: her heart was in a cage, a golden one, and Shaya had just opened that cage, freeing the thousands of crows inside of it, freeing her, leaving in her chest only her heart, pure, white, shining. And she herself had become a crow, and she was now flying in a limpid light-blue sky, a fresh wind underneath her wings.
The former queen blinked, and found herself staring at that same light-blue, cornered by long, fair eyelashes, and that was staring at her in turn, brightened by a smile.
" Where were you?" Shaya softly asked, a glimmer of amazement in her gaze.
Regina furrowed her brows. " What?"
" You weren't here. " the warrior smiled, pursuing then her lips and slightly tilting her head. " Maybe I should say the magic words."
" Which magic words?"
Shaya grinned. " You're a good mother." she said.
Regina stifled a laughter, then grabbed again the shirt and pulled Shaya against her, holding her there with a kiss. The blonde broke the kiss for the time to say: " See? It works!", then let her pull her down again, and another kiss filled their time.
Regina tried to move her hands as to unbutton the shirt, but Shaya pressed her body against hers and broke the kiss, locking gaze with her.
" Regina..." she murmured, frowning. She loved the way she said it. Shaya had the slightest of the accents, but she could hear it like a soft touch lingering on the consonants, hardening the "r" of her name, making it somehow better, stronger, fiercer. The brunette started playing with a fair strand of hair next to Shaya's left cheek, slowly using it to reach her neck and caress it, making the warrior shiver.
" You make me like my name." she whispered gazing at the golden lock between her finger.
" Maybe because I like it. "
The brunette gazed at her. " Mother gave me. "
Shaya smirked. " The second good thing she did."
" Second? What was the first?"
" You."
Regina glared at her. " Thought you didn't like my mother."
" Indeed. Yet she picked a lovely name." Shaya smiled, beginning to shyly caress her hair. Regina closed her eyes, enjoying the pleasant sensation, the slight shivers that Shaya's delicate fingers threw down her spine, her as much delicate weight over all of her body, the awareness of her face, so close to hers.
" It means "queen". How is it lovely?"
Regina felt her shrug.
" Well, for how she did it all wrong, she wanted you to have a better life than she did, Regina. Your name was a... wish. For you, not for her. I do believe that she loved you, honey." Regina opened her eyes, unable to contain the knot in her throat anymore.
" Do you?" she asked in a whisper. For a moment she saw sympathy in Shaya's eyes, but as she blinked it disappeared.
The warrior nodded once. " Aye." she quietly said. " Don't misinterpret, I still hate her. I can't forgive her what she did to you." she added with lower voice, rage darting from her eyes, that looked sad now, despite the anger. " But she loved you, her way."
Regina had to look away. She swallowed back her tears. How did she get to know all of those things? She was about to ask her when Shaya moved from above her and laid next to her, on her back. Regina immediately turned, getting closer to her, feeling about to freeze without her body against her own, even if the house was warm.
" Hey, were do you think you're going?" she asked, forcing herself to smirk, to think about something else, anything else but her mother. She wrapped an arm around Shaya's waist.
The warrior sighed, regretfully gazing at her. " Nowhere, but I should go to hell. I'm silly, sorry. Shouldn't have told you about her. Sometimes I can't fucking shut up. Sorry."
Regina pressed her lips together in a smile and gave a soft snort. She then leaned forward and kissed Shaya's neck before she could stop her, talking then against the soft skin, feeling the warrior struggle to stay still, so smiling against the skin and making her wriggle, a vicious circle.
" Indeed. Shut up and fuck me." Regina throatily murmured, secretly blushing, making the blonde moan. She had never said something like that. It necessarily had to be Emma's influence.
" Goddammit, Regina! Hope you're aware that you're torturing me!" Shaya angrily whispered, trying to move away from her, but Regina thwarted her efforts by putting herself over her. Shaya looked desperate. " Regina!" she exclaimed, a begging stare that made the brunette laugh, and so, for some reason, the blonde shake again.
" You're torturing yourself, dear. I'm just laying over you."
Shaya glared at her. " Naked."
Regina sneered. " That's not true: I still wear my panties. "
The warrior angrily sighed, still glaring at her. " I noted. That's why I'm still alive, thank you."
Regina turned up her nose at her. " How dramatic of you..."
" Tell my heart..."
" I'd rather tell your..."
" Regina!"
The brunette tilted her head with a smirk on her face. " Close enough."
Shaya goggled, making her laugh. " Since when you talk this way?"
The brunette thought about it, then shrugged. " I guess it's Emma's influence." she answered narrowing her eyes.
Shaya pursued her lips. " Mh, if you say so... "
" What would that mean?"
" Nothing, nothing, Queen."
Regina glared at the woman. " I told you..."
"Aye, aye, I know." Shaya grinned. " But, if you still were a queen..." she left the sentence suspended, as if she was expecting her to continue it. The brunette frowned, confused.
" What?"
Shaya eyes glittered. " Well, you know, seen the meaning of your name, I could call you..." she paused, letting her think.
Regina suddenly understood. " No!"
Shaya contracted her lips in a tiny "o", ruined by a sneer.
" No, Shaya, don't you dare say it..." Regina said in a threatening tone, aiming a finger at her.
" Queen Queen." she quickly said, sticking the words so that it seemed even more ridiculous. Regina gave her a slap on her face. Shaya's mouth opened in surprise, then a sneer pulled her lips closer.
" I told you!" Regina grunted, glaring at her.
The blonde was still smiling. " You slapped me!"
" So what?"
" You're violent, woman!"
Regina arched one eyebrow. " Did you find it out now?"
Shaya gave a sort of brief laugh. " Nope, but I thought you were it only through magic, not physically."
Regina clenched her jaw. " Guess I am it magically because I can't be it physically. I'm tiny, Shaya, I'm not a Viking like you. And I wouldn't obtain the same results, anyway. "
" What's a Viking?"
" Nevermind." Regina sighed.

Regina put an arm over Shaya's chest and the leaned her chin over it, gazing at her. With the free hand the former Queen started to gently tickle Shaya under her right ear. She looked sleepy. She was adorable.
" You really don't want to make love with me tonight?" Regina asked in a murmur, locking gaze with her.
Shaya ignored an inner, desperate laughter. " I do wish it, Regina, you know it, but... " the warrior slightly shrugged. " Really, I don't want to cause you problems. " she concluded, trying not to detest the situation. It was a real torture, worst than any whip or red-hot iron.
The brunette furrowed her lips, slightly smiling. " Is that about? Me, again?"
Seeing her so amused and a bit regretful at the same time made Shaya smile, she couldn't help it.
" Always." she quietly murmured, although her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
Regina moved and kissed her, caressing her nape, and her cheek with the thumb, clenching her core though she was just making her tongue dance with hers. Shaya had to do something, or she'd had surrendered. The brunette was really putting her resistance on test.
The warrior moved and lifted them both, taking the sheets with one hand and basically throwing them over their bodies while falling again on the bed. She then wrapped both her arms around Regina while she made her slid next to her.
Regina stopped kissing her and gazed at her face, closing watching every particular as if she wanted to mentally paint it, and cherish that image. She then fortunately leaned her head against the pillow that they were sharing, hiding her face between her neck and her shoulder, before that she could see the tiny tear of joy slid over the warrior's cheek.
The warriors kissed her head, gently rubbing her back, breathing her scent, her own life.
" Are you comfortable?" she asked in a soft murmur. Regina slightly nodded against her.
" You?" she asked.