DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.
A/N:: another update. the next one is not finished yet, so you guys might have to wait a couple days. thank you for the continued support and reviews. they mean so much to me. enjoy and review.
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-Chapter 27: When You Lose Something You Cannot Replace-
The second Emma realized she was awake, she immediately wished she wasn't. She clung to her pillow desperately, trying to will herself back to sleep. She wished she could go back to the other world, but she'd even settle for just peaceful, regular sleep right now. Anything but Sunday. She wasn't sure which event she was dreading more, the inevitably long discussion she was about to have with August or what was most likely going to be the dinner from Hell with Regina. All she knew was she wasn't looking forward to either.
She trudged out of bed and showered. When she returned to her bedroom, her hair wrapped up in a wet towel with another around her body, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of August sitting, fully clothed on her bed. She held the towel tighter to her, making sure she didn't have an unexpected mishap and give him an eyeful. "What are you doing in my room?"
August raised an eyebrow. " I was under the impression we had plans."
"We do… later."
"I don't believe I specified an exact time."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Exactly! When people don't specify a time, the other person doesn't then automatically assume butt crack of dawn." She walked over to her dresser, opening the drawers and pulling out fresh underwear, a bra, a tank, and a pair of jeans.
"It's not that early. Besides… you have plans with the mayor so I figured you'd want to get an early start."
Emma froze. "You know about that?"
August shrugged. "The walls are quite thin Emma. It's an old place." He scrunched his face up in the best impression of Regina he could manage. 'Now go break things off with him or fuck yourself, it's your choice.'
Emma paled. "Oh my God, you actually heard that?"
August chuckled. "I heard everything. Including her ordering you to dinner tonight. 'I do expect you to be at my house for dinner at seven. I'm not accustomed to waiting for my meal, so please refrain from being late'."
Emma rolled her eyes, trying to disguise that she was still embarrassed. "You been practicing that impression, have you?"
"I heard it makes blonde deputies go wild."
She slid her underwear and jeans on under her towel, then turned her back to him and let it drop, putting on her bra and then her tank. "I have a feeling she's going to eat me alive tonight."
He grinned suggestively. "I have no doubt about that."
She tossed her towel at his head with a scoff. "You're such a perv." She grabbed her brush, unwrapped her hair and started to brush it out. "So where are you taking me? Back to the lake?"
August shrugged. "Where do you want to go?"
Emma sighed. "Back home."
August looked somber for the first time all morning. "Don't we all?"
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"Do we still talk?" August skipped a stone across the surface of the pristine water.
Emma was sitting with her back against a tree near the water's edge, watching him. She shook her head, looking out at the water instead. "No, we don't."
"Was it me or you who broke things off?"
Emma sighed. "It was you. You waited until I got pulled back to this world and you left me in the middle of the night. I never saw you again after that."
His constant stone skipping halted. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I left you like that. If I felt it was right to walk away, that's one thing. But to wait until the middle of the night and slink away. That's cowardly and you deserve better."
Emma was silent. She hated thinking back to the day Pinocchio left.
"I will not let you do this!"
"I control my own destiny Emma! And I have chosen this path. You cannot stop me."
She stamped her foot, knowing how immature she looked but hardly caring. Anything that would stop him from leaving, she'd do it. "I am your Queen! I command you not to go!"
He chuckled at her, dismissing her order with a wave of his hand. "You command me? How quaint." He rolled his eyes and turned for the door. "I will be back once I've…"
"I'll marry you."
Pinocchio froze just inside the door.
"Stay and I shall name you my King." Emma felt tears at the back of her eyes, burning and willing her to shed them. She was not in love with him, but maybe some Princesses were never meant for love. Maybe true love was something for stories told at bedtime. He was her best friend. She couldn't let him do this. And if that meant marrying him, then so be it.
He turned from the door. "Is that what you want?"
She bit her lip. "I want to keep you safe."
He stayed with her until she fell asleep, telling her of the great things they would do once they ruled the kingdom. By the time her eyes fell closed, she was actually starting to like the idea of Pinocchio as King. It was only when she woke up that Daniela had told her he had gone.
"So, you met your husband after I left then?"
She shook away the memory and nodded. "Yes. He reminded me so much of how a King should be. He was courteous and just and diplomatic. I knew he'd be best for the kingdom."
"But you never loved him?"
Emma shook her head. "No, not even in the beginning. I just assumed the love would grow with the passing of years. But it never did. I grew a certain fondness for him, but it was never deeper than that."
"Wow… you do realize how sad that sounds right?"
She let out a guffaw. And this was why they'd been friends. Best friends. She nodded, still laughing. "Yes, yes I do."
He grinned. "As long as you know."
She leaned her head back against the tree. "Oh how I've missed you."
His face fell into a soft expression. "I can't imagine it was easy for me to leave you. I can't believe I've never come back."
She looked up at him sadly. "I can."
"Why?"
Emma felt tears sting her eyes and she looked away. "Because you died."
The guard looked tired, his armour bent and stained with the vestiges of battle. "My Queen." He fell to a knee.
She fell to her knees in front of the soldier, not caring that it knocked her crown slightly askew. Screw the crown. "What news do you bring me?"
The man lifted his gaze to hers. "He fought nobly. He took out their general."
She beamed. "Oh Pinocchio, you fool! I knew he was too stubborn to lose. Why is not here to brag of his victory?"
The soldier frowned. "My Queen… he sustained a wound… an axe to the chest. I fear we lost him shortly after the battle was won."
Emma couldn't breathe, couldn't move. All she felt was loss.
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She looked down at her cell phone. Six fifty-five. He was going to make her late. She willed the bike to move faster. She knew it had been a bad idea to stop at that backwoods gas station. The attendant had shifty eyes and the pump looked like it hadn't been used since the nineteen fifties. And all because it was three cents cheaper than in town. Now she was facing the wrath of Mills.
They turned onto Mifflin Street and she could see the top of the big white house over the hedges. Almost there. She checked the time again. Six fifty-eight. Almost there. She unbuckled her helmet.
He pulled to a stop in front of 108 and she hopped off, tossing the helmet into his arms as she forced herself to walk calmly through the gate and up the front walk. She knew Regina was watching her every move from one of the windows and she didn't want to give the woman the satisfaction of seeing her panic. She stepped up onto the stoop, looking back over her shoulder at August. He made a whipping motion with his hand and she narrowed her eyes. She was not whipped!
Then Regina opened the door and she saw the smirk on her face. "Right on time Miss Swan. I'm impressed."
Emma bit her lip. Scratch that, she was so whipped.
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As she walked into the dining room, she noticed the table wasn't set. She raised an eyebrow and turned back to look at Regina. The brunette was leaning in the doorway, smirking at her.
"I thought we were having dinner."
Regina took a step forward. "I never said anything about you Miss Swan. My dinner just arrived." She pulled Emma to her.
The blonde didn't push her away but she frowned. "You are insatiable. Planning on finishing this time?"
Regina's nails dug painfully into Emma's hips, punishing her for her mocking. She leaned in, her tongue tracing the shell of the blonde's ear. "I can make up for it, if you let me."
Emma shivered. She couldn't help it. Regina was her drug. She couldn't walk out of this house now even if she tried.
Taking her silence for the acquiescence it was, she pulled Emma toward the stairs and up to her bedroom.
Emma looked around the room, remembering the last time she'd been in this room. She'd gotten undressed then too, though for a much more innocent purpose then. It seemed so long ago instead of the few short days it had actually been.
Regina pulled her tank up and off, then removed her bra, all with a practiced familiarity now. She set to work on Emma's jeans, sliding them and her underwear off. But to Emma's surprise, she did something she hadn't done previously. She reached around herself and grabbed the zipper of her dress, sliding it slowly down until the dress fell away down her body to pool on the floor.
Emma's mouth nearly started to water at the sight of Regina in nothing but her lingerie, lace as always; she'd expect nothing less. She reached out and stroked the delicate flesh, if anything about Regina ever could be considered delicate, of her throat. She leaned forward and replaced her fingers with her lips, kissing and nipping softly.
Regina surrendered herself to the pleasure for a couple more moments before she pushed Emma away. She looked pointedly at the bed, indicating that's where she wanted the blonde.
Emma fell onto the bed and was amazed at its softness. With how much of a hardass Regina was, she wouldn't have been surprised if her mattress was extra super firm, better yet, made of solid wood. But the mattress yielded to her body with a comforting softness.
Regina surveyed her prey for a second before lowering onto the bed and climbing over Emma.
As the brunette straddled her hips, Emma felt the damp heat protected by the lace between her legs. Her actions and her words may suggest otherwise, but Regina's own body betrayed her now by proving to Emma just how turned on she was. She grasped the older woman's hips and forced her to grind down against her stomach, smiling broadly at the involuntary gasp that fell from Regina's lips.
Regina smirked down at the blonde. "You are an impatient one, aren't you?" She ground down once more, suppressing her own moan even as the blonde beneath her groaned.
Emma thrust her hips upward in answer and Regina's smirk only grew. This lust the blonde had for her would only aide Regina in breaking her.
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Emma stared at the glass of alcohol in her hand, trying desperately to figure out her feelings. She had been at war with herself for the last thirty minutes since they'd finished. On one hand, she was getting physical satisfaction from this Regina. It was a step in the right direction to be sure. The mayor was obviously attracted to her, which could only work in favour of her ultimate goal. But on the other hand, there was an emptiness to what they were doing. Regina obviously was far detached from it; she still had yet to let Emma touch her intimately, just allowing no more than the light touching of her breasts or the kissing of her neck. She knew exactly what the mayor's endgame was. Make her fall in love with her and then obliterate her in one fell swoop. It was the deepest way to destroy a person and, sadly, the most common in this world. The ground of this world was littered with broken hearts and shattered dreams. No matter where one stepped, they were treading on the remains of some poor soul's hopes and aspirations.
"It's not magic whiskey Miss Swan. It won't tell you your future."
Emma looked over at the amused expression of the mayor, sitting on the couch across from hers in a silk robe, looking just as commanding as she did in one of her business suits. She sighed and downed the rest of her whiskey, setting the empty glass on the table between them and then running her hands up and down the denim covering her thighs. "When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me about love and what it meant to be in love. She used to tell me that one day I'd meet someone, just like she met my father, and everything would just click. I'd sacrifice anything, do whatever it took to be with that person forever. I, ever the practical one in my family, always thought she was wrong. I stopped believing in fairytales the day she died." Emma looked down at her hands. "And then I met you."
Regina frowned. "Miss Swan, we hardly know each other. I don't…."
"How come you don't play anymore?" Emma looked back up at her.
Regina raised an eyebrow. "To what are you referring?"
"You taught me to play piano once. But I haven't seen a piano here. Why don't you play anymore?"
Regina shook her head. "That's impossible. I stopped playing when…"
It dawned on Emma then. Of course she would have stopped. "When you married the King."
Regina studied Emma for several long moments. "I couldn't have taught you piano Miss Swan. You would have been but a child the last time I played. There was only one child so young in my life at that time."
Emma nodded. "Snow White. You wouldn't have taught her. Besides, I highly doubt she would have had the patience. She never was very good at waiting for things that didn't come easily to her." She smiled softly at the memory of her mother's stubbornness. "But you did teach me." She closed her eyes and recalled up the memory of playing the piano with Regina in the ruins of the keep. Slowly, she began to hum to the music as it played out in her memory.
Regina closed her eyes at the familiar tune. She used to play it every night, it was her favourite, something personal, of her own creation, that she had never shared with anyone, not even Daniela. There was no way for Emma Swan to know that song, unless she spoke the truth. Which meant only one thing… Regina had used some kind of spell to erase the memory of Emma from her mind. The question was, had it been to protect herself, or had it been to protect Emma? "You know so much about my world, yet where do you fit in?"
The blonde frowned, her eyes opening. "If you were to ask me in the mornings, right after I wake up, I'd say in your arms. But by the conclusion of my day..." She shrugged. "I'm here to save you, to save them all. Not exactly sure how I'm supposed to go about doing that, but I know I have to try. What good is a life not spent fighting for a happy ending?"
