Emma tries her best to stay discreet as she scans the large compound in awe.

"Welcome to JFK" Regina mumbles in her ear, a smile evident in her voice as she leans into Emma for just a second. So apparently her gawking didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm sorry, I know it's dumb" she mumbles, slightly ashamed of her childish reaction. But honestly, she can't stop herself from admiring the large set of buildings surrounded by a ridiculous amount of planes.

"It's okay" Regina reassures with a brief squeeze of her forearm "I love introducing you to new things" she smirks and it's all sexually charged, making Emma's stomach flip.

They enter the main hall and Emma is astounded by its size as well as the clean, almost unique feel of the place.

They go through all the required stops, from the check-ups to the passport stand and Emma can't stop thanking whatever gods up there for having Regina around. She honestly has no idea how she would've gone through all of this has Regina been just an unfamiliar generic employee.

"Coffee?" Regina suggests once they reach the airside area. Emma accepts the offer, pouting when Regina hands her a black coffee.

"Where's my milk?" she pouts in what she assumes is an adorable way since Regina's face soften and she lift a hand to ghost over Emma's cheekbone.

"You'll thank me later" she says confidently and moves to seat in one of the armchairs scattered around the area.

They're drinking their coffee silently since Emma is still busy scanning the area like it's some unknown world. Her eyes swipe over Regina and halt when she sees the brunette's intense stare.

"Do I-" she immediately sends a hand to her chin "do I have something on my face?" she turns to look down at her shirt since spilling hot beverages all over herself is nowhere near impossible, in fact, it's likely.

Regina shakes her head, mouth quirking up into a shy smile, one Emma doesn't remember seeing before.

"Well?" she asks, frowning.

"I love you" Regina shrugs but her gaze is meaningful, sending waves of warmth all over Emma's body but mainly to her heart.

"I love you too" she says with a smile so wide it hurts. Still, despite having said and done things much more intimate than that she finds herself going completely red. She clears her throat in discomfort and Regina chuckles, her gaze, if possible, gets even more loving and intense.

They stay silent for a few moments, enjoying that alarmingly peaceful and fulfilling moment.

"Tell me something about yourself" Regina says out of the blue, all attention on Emma. And Emma, who has avoided the coffee just in case her throat decides to choke on it in reaction to the warm fuzzy feeling still coursing through her body from the 'I love you' moment, is suddenly very interested in that light brown, boring cup of coffee.

"Huh?" Emma asks, unsure of where it came from.

"Tell me something, anything about you" Regina pushes "I feel like I don't know enough about you" she reasons "and I wish to know more."

Emma's eyes narrow suspiciously as she tries to assess the odds of successfully dodging what could only be a depressing conversation.

"I'll trade you" Regina sweetens the deal in the face of Emma's obvious reluctance "A question for a question" she offers and Emma finds it too tempting to refuse. She nods.

"Good" Regina resolves and she seems to wake up at the face of their new game. "Mmm" she hums, eyes jumping all over the place as she tries to think of a question. "Tell me something about you when you were young" is what she goes with and Emma wrecks her brain in search of something that isn't tainted with violence, disappointment, abandonment, etc. This conversation, she decides, will be a positive one if she can help it.

"Oh!" she calls when she finally lands on something that deems acceptable "Random fact, I used to love climbing, and I mean love climbing" she emphasizes the word with a meaningful look "and I'd keep running away from the adults I was with and go climb the next tree in sight. I was becoming really good in climbing and one day, I think I was around nine, I was outside the house when I saw a fire truck pull over a couple of feet away from where I stood. Needless to say that I was enamored by the large scale red vehicle I had only seen on TV so I approached them." She is getting into the story, making faces and gesturing animatedly with her hands and Regina, Regina seems to soak every word that comes out of her mouth.

"Anyway, I ask them what's wrong and they, you know seeing a small blonde child, just shrug and point at the tree saying a cat was stuck up there, whining and wailing for two days now, effectively disturbing the residents. The tree was not as tall as it was ramified and tangled. They tried to place a ladder but it was impossible due to the amount of branches it had. They were standing there, contemplating their next action when I l jogged toward the tree, thinking nothing of it, and started climbing up. Until they figured out what I was trying to do and started shouting me to get down from there I was already halfway down the tree with a cat scrambling and twitching in my hands."

Emma puffs her chest proudly at Regina's amused lifted eyebrows.

"Anyway, they made a 'card of appreciation' with my name and their signatures for me to take home. I ended up needing vaccinations since the street cat scratched me as it struggled to free himself from my hold but I didn't care, I was the 'savior' that day." She smiles fondly at the memory.

"My hero" Regina mocks but it's loving rather than teasing and Emma shrugs with an exaggerated bow.

"Do you still have it?" Regina inquires.

"The certificate?" Emma asks and her companion nods "Nah, it got lost in one of my house transitions" she provides, determined on not letting that line mess with her entire story. It's not the same on the other side of the table where she catches Regina's gaze darken and mouth turning down a just a little.

She's over it pretty quickly though, smiling when Emma asks for her own funny anecdote.

"So apparently I was hilarious as a little kid" Regina rolls her eyes but her lips quirk up at the memory.

"First, I had a faze where I apparently would run to any woman in sight and call her 'mommy' while holding her legs for dear life" she shakes her head and Emma bursts out in laughter. Regina sends her a look but eventually joins in, chuckling herself. "My mom was mortified" she adds and that encourages another wave of laughter from Emma when the image of an adorable little Regina hanging onto strangers pops in mind.

"Then when I started actually talking I neglected words of attribution and verbs. So instead of saying I want to go now I would constantly say 'I go now'. And when someone pissed me off, which apparently was all the time, I would yell at them 'I kill you, I kill you'" she finishes and Emma eyes tear up.

"Ugh that's precious" she says in between giggles.

"Your turn" Regina says and a certain memory immediately pop, making Emma snort.

"So, I don't know how old I was but I think I just moved houses and my social worker was trying to cheer me up or something. Anyway," Emma moves on, ignoring Regina's sad look. That's her life, they suck but it's in the past now, no need to mourn over things she can't change.

"She took me to this children's play and during the recess she had to pee. The bathrooms were packed and she didn't want to leave me outside by myself so she brought me with her into the stall and told me to turn around. I was never an obedient girl" Emma states with a smirk and the look Regina sends her goes straight to her groin. She clears her throat and continues "So right when she ended peeing I turned around and saw that her panties were in the color of a reddish brown. She was on her period but four or five year old me didn't know that so I just yelled out loud 'Mandy you popped you pants'."

Regina's eyes go round and then she's leaning over laughing and laughing.

"And did people hear?" she asks in between gasp of air and Emma can't help but chuckle herself.

"People were staring at her when we came out of the stall" she adds and Regina's laughter intensifies.

"That's hilarious" she says when she finally gets her laughter under control. She retrieves a handkerchief and dabs the moisture under her eyes. Emma's eyebrows shot up at the fact that Regina even possess a handkerchief but says nothing.

They share some meaningless yet so important stories from their earlier lives when their flight is announced.

Emma follows Regina as they stand in line for the last ticket check-up.

"So I was supposed to be sitting in first class and you in economy" Regina starts and Emma feels the panic rise up at the thought of a large metal craft literally lifting herself off the ground while she's in it, alone. Well not alone, but you get it.

"But knowing it was your first time I switched my first class ticket and moved you up to business so you could sit with me."

Emma, relived and touched by the act, intertwines their hands and squeezes. Regina squeezes back and Emma can't stop herself from lifting their joined hands and kissing Regina's hand.

They go into the jet bridge and Emma can already feel the nausea at the closed space. She dreads imagining how the plane would feel like.

It ends up being much better, claustrophobia wise, thanks to the fact that this business class is spacious and rather comfortable. It almost feels like sitting in a weird restaurant and not in an actual plane. Her face contorts when her brain reproduces the image of the economy class, all the seats stuffed incredibly close to one another, no privacy, no comfort, no space.

"Thank you" she says to Regina who's making herself comfortable in the seat next to hers. She has given Emma the window seat claiming that it's her duty to do so since it's Emma's first flight. 'Wait until you see the view' was all she said.

"You're welcome hone-" she stops mid-word, almost petrified, turning to face a grinning Emma.

"What were you saying?" Emma feigns obliviousness and Regina narrows her eyes at her.

"Nothing" she says quickly and Emma chuckles.

"Alright honey" Emma teases and Regina slaps her shoulder lightly.

"Ouch baby!" she mocks hurt and Regina rolls her eyes at that.

"Cut it off" she orders and Emma can't find it in her, it is just too amusing.

"Why boo?" she tries again, almost cackling when she sees Regina's obvious discomfort.

"Bea?" she tries again, snorting at Regina's exaggerated eye roll.

"Sweetie pie?" at that Regina almost falls out of her chair.

"Emma" she hisses angrily and Emma lifts her hands in surrender.

"We'll find the right one, don't worry muffin" she says and Regina's lips quick up under Emma's watchful gaze. "Ohhh you like that one don't you?" she smirks "muffin" she says again and Regina doesn't glare at her, she doesn't even look slightly bothered. More like smitten and trying to hide it if you ask Emma. "Muffin it is." She concludes and Regina shakes her head at the ridiculous conversation.

"Do you know what I love?" Regina promotes and it's supposed to be rhetorical. Emma jumps in anyway.

"Me" she smiles cheekily and Regina can't hold her smile this time and what a smile it is, all teeth and dimples and shining eyes.

"Well yes" she tilts her head a little "But also" she lifts her finger "silence" she puts a longing expression on her face "blessed silence"

"Fine" Emma folds her hands defiantly, turning her body away to stare out the window.

She hears rustling sounds behind her and then a 'pssst'. She ignores it and soon there's another one. When she turns around Regina is inches from her face and she leans in for a quick peck.

"Try to get some sleep, it will make this flight a lot easier" she advices with a smile on her face "God knows we haven't slept that much last night" she smirks suggestively and Emma feels her face heat up.

"Okay" she says as she settles comfortably into her seat. She hasn't seen this Regina before, all playful and affectionate in public but she definitely, definitely, approves.

Apparently Regina was right. The minute she closes her eyes she falls into a deep slumber and the next time she opens her eyes they're almost landing.


Hope you enjoyed this fluffy little chapter, I felt extremely light and goofy today and this is the result :) Also, if you're wondering about the 'poop your pants' story; well ,all I can say is that it's a truly hilarious one and also 100% true provided by a younger me XP