I'm planning to start updating every Sunday :)
Chapter thirty-fourteen
Regina spent a couple hours agonising over the date as the pair walked around New York for a couple hours. She explained some of the landmarks but they were not quite as awe-inspiring without having had lived in the realm.
Around Central Park a thought occurred to the goddess. The princess was so clearly enamoured with the technology of the realm, but taking her to the movies probably wouldn't be the best since it would take some more explanation for her to appreciate how fictions works on the screen. So she figured it would make sense to go for something that would require less explanation, which was why they were currently on a very to Coney Island.
She smiled at the blonde who was leaning against the railing. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open as she continue to stare at everything that they passed.
There was a lot of New York that they could see from this view and Regina already knew that they would probably be returning so that Emma could explore it more thoroughly, hopefully after she own that infernal tournament and they could really begin to focus on their relationship.
Regina walked over and leaned against the railing next to her. Emma turned her head away from the skyline and she smiled at her wife and moved slightly closer. She'd never been on water before so she had no idea just how much colder it could be.
"This realm is truly beautiful," Emma sighed after a beat of silence and a quick check to make sure that there was no one within earshot. She had quickly learned that the people of this realm did not appreciate discussion of magic and other realms judging by the number of curious looks she had received in the few hours that she had been here.
"I believe that many people who live here would prefer the Enchanted Forest," Regina replied and Emma drew her eyebrows together.
"And why would they want that?"
"It's a land of fantasy to them," Hades shrugged, "they find hope in the love that Snow White and Prince Charming share."
The blonde pushed herself from the railing fully so that she could look at her wife with her eyebrows now raised, "they know of my parents?"
"Not exactly," Regina replied, "they know a version of your parents who defeated the Evil Queen with True Love's Kiss."
"The Evil Queen? Do they really believe that someone can be defined so easily?"
Regina shrugged again and looked away from the blonde for a moment as she said, "I believe that there are many in Enchanted Forest who believe that."
She continued staring at the water, until she felt fingertips brush against her own and she looked at the princess with vulnerability that she had not revealed to anyone but Persephone.
"My parents may believe that you're evil but they also believed that it would be wise to in-prison me in my own home for 21 years. I wouldn't be so quick to trust their judgement."
"Was that your way of calling them idiots?" Regina asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well…I was trying to be say it in a less direct way," Emma replied now smiling openly at her wife as she moved her hand further along the railing so that it was now fully covering Regina's.
The goddess returned the smile and she was about to say something else but the loud sound of a horn interrupted her and she turned to see that they had arrived at their destination.
Emma followed Regina's gaze and her eyes widened almost comically. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking at but she already knew that she loved it. There was light everywhere but this was different from the light that she had been so overwhelmed by back in the city. She could faintly hear shouts of joy coming from the island and she could already see a collection of children running around gleefully on the sand.
The brunette took her hand when a call came out to disembark and Emma allowed herself to be pulled along as they made their way onto the island. She had no idea what she was supposed to be expecting when she was told that they were going to Coney Island, but she knew that there was no way that she would have ever been able to imagine the sights before her and every fibre in her being was itching to go and look at and try everything that she could see.
"What is this place?" She breathed once they were on the sand and away form anyone that would give them curious looks.
Hades couldn't help the wide grin on her face, she was pretty sure that the young woman before her had not been this excited when they were in Camelot or Wonderland, she may have finally outdone herself.
"This is one of the New York neighbourhoods, dear," Regina replied, "only this one becomes a source for entertainment for the people during the summer."
Emma nodded slowly, Regina had tried to explain how all of the neighbourhoods worked and she was pretty sure that she had retained at least some of it. However, her attention was quickly stolen as she turned to look at the giant metal structures.
"That is Luna Park," the brunette supplied before the other woman could ask, "it is an amusement part, the people of this realm pay to ride those structures for enjoyment."
Instead of replying, Emma simply grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her towards the park.
Dawn knew that this wasn't important, it certainly was not something that she should be focusing on right now. However, she also knew that if things developed as she was hoping they would with Graham, then she would always feel guilty for not doing what she needed to.
There was also the fact that she needed to be in the Enchanted Forest to get something for her tournament plan, so she figured that she could kill two birds with one stone.
The Demi-goddess blew out a breath as she walked up the hill like she had many times before now, but her legs were taking her as slow as they possibly could,
A familiar naying sound reached her ears and she knew that she had indeed come to the right place. Devin was awfully predictable and it was one of the things that she loved about him when she'd originally met him, but with countless lifetimes ahead of her, she knew that it was unfair for her to prevent him from being with another mortal whilst she pined for a demon.
Devon looked up from brushing his horse and somewhere between a smile and a frown cameo over his face. Dawn smiled tightly at him, she never understood why he insisted on brushing his horse when he had so many servants willing and ready to do it at a moments notice, it was something about maintaining a connection with the horse.
"Dawn," he said, finally breaking the silence between the pair, "I wasn't sure that I would ever see you again."
The brunette shifted uncomfortably as Devin uncomfortably as Devin stepped away from the horse and went over to look at the demi-goddess expectantly, it wasn't quite harsh more questioning.
"I need to talk to you, Devin," Dawn replied to the unasked question.
The prince nodded slowly and gestured for his girlfriend to follow him over to the date of a tree. Dawn hesitated as he sat down, this was the tree that they'd had more than a few picnics under.
After a second, she fell down next to him as she was sat further away than she would have the last time she saw him.
A part of Dawn thought that maybe her feelings would rush back the moment she saw him, but in this case, absence did not make the heart grow fonder.
"Are you going to tell me where you have been for the last few weeks?" Devin asked with a clenched jaw, e was used to the odd week without seeing Dawn and they appeared to have a silent agreement that he would never question her, but he didn't feel like he could respect that for much longer. His parents had dropped many hints about marriage in the last few months and he was fairly certain that they expected him to be with Dawn (something he was sure wouldn't be true if he was the eldest son) and he knew that they were desperate for grandchildren, which didn't seem likely to come from Killian anytime soon considering his allergy to commitment.
Dawn took a deep breath and took another minute to look around, trying to decide if she was making the right choice here. She had sincerely hoped that being here would remind her of why she loved it so much, why she had been so desperate to get out of the Underworld originally, but it was only reminding her of the time she had spent with Graham in the tavern.
When the woman didn't say anything, Devin sighed and ran his hand over his face as he said, "my brother sent me a letter explaining that there was a rumour started by the White Palace staff that you were with another man in a tavern. I was sure that it couldn't be true but I had no way to get into contact with you…"
Dawn shook her head, she knew that woman was a gossip but she had no idea that it would somehow reach her boyfriend in another kingdom.
"I was with one of my mother's servants," she replied, it wasn't a lie but it also wasn't quite the entire truth. It wasn't like she could tell him that she had taken a demon to the Enchanted Forest to help him with his anxiety and that she had spent almost all of their time apart with said demon, other than when she was training her step-mother in swordplay.
Devin frowned, he knew very little about Dawn's mother other than the fact that she existed, but at least now he knew that she was high enough class to have people in her service.
"I assume that this isn't what you came here to talk about?" Devin asked.
The brunette nodded, and worried at her bottom lip for a few seconds, before she said, "I know that you have a lot of questions about me that I have have refused to answer for years and the truth is that I will never be able to answer them without ruining your life."
"Don't you think that you're being just a little bit dramatic?" The prince asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Dawn shook her head, there were times when she tried to convince herself that it would be fine to tell Devin about everything, that he was strong enough to handle it. But the truth was that knowledge of divinity was a lot of mortals to handle, as proved by Emma's parents urge to lock their daughter away to protect her from it. It didn't seem fair to dump such a burden onto a man that she didn't even want to be with long-term.
"You will just have to trust me when I say that you will be better off not knowing," the demi-goddess sighed.
"How could we possibly be together if…"
Devin trailed off when Dawn looked down and he shifted so that he was further away from her, "you came here to end our relationship, didn't you?"
Dawn continued to look down for a moment, but finally forced herself to look up as she said, "I'm so sorry Devin, but if you ever found out the truth about me then I'm sure that your parents will not allow you to marry me. And if you never found out, I'm not sure that I can spend the rest of your life lying to you."
"My life?" Devin asked with a tilted head. He was sure that he should be more devastated about this but he couldn't help but think that the lack of contact over the last month or so had almost numbed him to her absence.
The brunette smiled weakly at him and tried not to sigh at herself for accidentally hinting at her secret, "I love you, Devin," she said in a near whisper, "but I can't allow you to wait for me forever."
Before the man could say anything, she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek as she whispered, "thank you."
When she stood up, the prince looked more confused than anything. He watched her walk down the hill until she was out of sight and he fell back against the tree as if he was trying to figure out if that had really happened.
Dawn wiped at her cheek which was covered in a few stray tears which had fallen and she looked over he shoulder to make sure that Devin wasn't following her and once she was sure that he wasn't, smoke billowed around her and her body materialised in the place she was actually meant to be.
Her faculties returned to her and she realised that a woman was humming as she picked flowers and Dawn couldn't help but roll her eyes at her.
A split second later, the woman jumped around with a wand brandished at the younger brunette.
Hades's daughter just flicked her wrist and the wand flew to the side and the woman stared at it with wide eyes
Dawn held up her hand before she could try anything else and a purple glow held her in place, "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm just here to claim on a debt I think you owe to Emma White."
Emma spent another second to inspect what was apparently food in her hand. Everything that she had encountered in this realm seemed to be manufactured in a way that she didn't quite understanding that seemingly extended to the food.
"What is this called again?" She asked.
Regina looked away from the booth that she was looking at and frowned at the food in the blonde's hand that wasn't hand (she'd really got used to holding her hand, she wasn't sure how she was going to go back to not when they left), she didn't realise that she still hadn't eaten it.
"It's a corndog, dear," the goddess replied.
Emma still wasn't entirely sure what it was, but she figured that her wife wouldn't make her eat something that would kill her so she just took a bite out of it.
Her brows drew together as she tried to figure out what she was eating and she finally swallowed the bite and realised that Regina was looking at her questioningly.
"It's disgusting," the princess frowned, "I love it," she added before she took another bite.
Regina laughed as they continued to make their way through the crowd. They'd been on the island for about a few hours and had been on a few rides, which Emma seemed to love even if she still didn't quite understand how the ride worked and they also spent some time on the beach.
The goddess felt a hand tug on her own and she realised that Emma had stopped moving and she turned to look at the younger woman.
"Is everything okay?" She asked before she followed the blonde's eye line over to the booth and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. It was a ring-toss booth with about ten giant teddy-bears hanging from it surrounded by a load of smaller ones.
The blonde felt herself being pulled over to the booth. She frowned when Regina released her hand to bring out a couple dollars, but she didn't have a chance to ask what she was doing as the man behind the booth smiled broadly at his newest customers.
"One dollar gives you three throws," he said excitedly and the princess frowned, that seemed awfully cheap, "you could win one of these wonderful stuffed bears for the lovely lady."
Regina silently handed him a dollar and accepted the three throwing rings in return. The goddess spared a look over her shoulder at her wife and smiled at the interest on her face as she threw the first ring. She knew that this game was set up to be a scam, but the ring found its target her first try, which caused a smug look to overcome her face when she noticed the expression of shock on the man's face and just for the sake of it, she decided to throw the other two which also found the same target.
"I believe that means I have won?" She asked.
The man looked over his shoulder for a moment as he tried to figure out if that was possible, he shook his head and turned back to the two women, silently hoping that they wouldn't claim the majority of his large prizes.
"Amazing!" He shouted, returning to his carnival persona, "what prize would you like?"
Regina turned to look at Emma and gestured towards the biggest prizes to tell her that those were the ones that she was allowed to pick from. The princess could tell that they were all animals, but she didn't really recognise all of them, so she decided that she would just pick the cutest looking one and ask what it was later.
She pointed at one of the giant stuffed bears and the guy brought it down for her and placed it into her hands with a huge grin on his face.
Regina thanked him and motioned for Emma to follow her. The princess tucked the prize under her arm and accepted the goddess's hand as they continued to walk through the crowds. Once the blonde was sure that there was no one listening to them, she asked, "what is this?"
"It's a panda, dear," Regina replied.
The princess just nodded even though she still wasn't quite sure what it was, and she asked, "was that another part of a date?"
"I suppose it was," the other woman shrugged, though she couldn't stop smiling.
Emma nodded and looked around for another couple seconds. This had been one of the best days of her life and she didn't want it to end, but at the same time, she knew that she only had a couple days left to the tournament. She could easily tell Regina that she would rather just stay here and forget about it, but there was a huge part of her mind that knew that there was no way that she could live with knowing that she didn't compete after she told Zelena that she would. Personally, she blamed her mother for her stubbornness.
"So...how does these dates usually end?" She asked, hoping that Regina would understand the hint.
The smile on the other woman's face deflated slightly as her mind reminded her that they would need to return to the Underworld soon, but as her eyes connected with one of the rides that they had yet to go on, she decided that she could still make the most of it.
"I'll show you," she replied and started pulling the blonde towards the Ferris wheel.
They were only in the line for about ten minutes until they were allowed onto it and Emma's eyes widened as it began taking them upwards. For a few moments, she allowed herself to take it the fact that she could basically see everything on the island, there was no way that they had tried everything so she already knew that she was going to ask to return soon.
She tore her eyes away from the sight and looked over to the woman sat on the other side of the panda and she smiled when she realised that Regina had simply been staring at her as she admired the view.
"Today was amazing," Emma said, "dating seems to be much more enjoyable than courtship."
Regina laughed and nodded in agreement.
The pair sat in a comfortable silence for about a minute and Emma's eyes drifted and her eyes caught the sight of a couple kissing in the carriage below them. She grinned slightly and shifted so that she was as close as she could be to Regina with the teddy bear in the way.
Before the goddess could ask her what she was doing, she leaned over and placed a chaste kiss to her lips. The blonde leaned back, though not too far and looked at Regina for her reaction.
The brunette was in shock for a split second, but she realised that the blonde might have finally started to understand what dating was.
She reclaimed her wife's lips in a more fierce kiss and decided that she would simply allow herself to enjoy it whilst they were in this realm.
A/N reviews would be very much appreciated XD