A/N: To address the credit card theft, since some of you don't seem to be liking that too much… Remember, Regina will turn back to herself and be well aware of Tink's treachery, and have her chance to confront her on it. In addition, Tink is well aware that Regina will remember, and she thinks she has a pretty good defense for her actions.

Furthermore, it's Tinker Bell… she's not that adept at following rules.

And finally, like I said, I'm just writing this for fun. Some things will be OOC. This story is literally just stress relief for me, and I hope it can be for others too!

Thanks to everyone who has sent positive feedback so far, I appreciate it more than you'll ever know :)

Sorry this one is short, next one will be longer... next one is when Trouble Maker Emma starts to make an appearance :)

Chapter Six

As it turned out, 'I'll think about it' actually meant 'no', when it came to Emma driving.

"But you said it was my car!" Emma whined, as she reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat. To Regina's misfortune, she didn't understand the rules of 'shot gun' and so was resigned to the back seat for the drive, not that she particularly cared either way.

"Yes, but I value my life, so I'm driving," Tink said, starting the ignition. When Emma had failed to provide any proof that she actually had a driver's licence, Tink had flat out told her she wasn't driving.

"What did you mean when you said money doesn't exist here?" Regina piped up from the backseat.

"Everything here was created by magic," Tink shrugged. "The economy is all for show. Storybrooke doesn't actually generate money, we just… kind of pretend it's all real."

"Why would you do that?" Regina pressed, suddenly very interested in what was happening. Emma wondered if seeing the photographic proof that she, too, was actually an adult in this world was enough to pique her interest for once. Or maybe she was just trying to keep her mind off her dead parents.

"I don't know, it's just the way the curse works, I guess," Tink replied.

"Curse?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, it's… hey, look, we're at the store," Tink said, slamming the car into park before she was even at a full stop.

"Don't treat my baby like that," Emma said, petting the dashboard. She had never really owned anything of value in her life, she didn't want this fairy destroying her car before she even got to drive it for the first time.

Tink smiled. "Sorry. I'm fairly new at this."

"I knew I should drive," Emma rolled her eyes, as she got out. She could see Regina struggling with the door handle, so she stepped back and opened her door for her. "Your Highness," she said, with a mock bow, like she was a limo driver for a celebrity.

"No one actually calls me that," Regina said, as she stepped out. "But thank you."

"You people don't have Hot Topic?" Emma asked, looking at the little clothing store they were about to enter.

Tink, having no idea to what Emma was referring, just shrugged and headed inside.

Inside, Emma was quick to find clothes she liked: mostly jeans that were not quite so skinny, and plaid shirts. Regina was having a little more difficulty.

"See anything you like?" Tink asked, walking up to her.

"I.. uh…" Regina stammered as she looked at a pair of tan pants, which reminded her of her riding pants.

"You're not a princess here," Tink pointed out, "you don't have to dress like one. If you like pants, get pants."

Regina smiled and nodded as she picked out some pants and some shirts, mostly in light blue, her favourite colour.

Tink brought the girls up to the cashier and handed over their pile of clothes, along with Regina's credit card.

"Mayor Mills' credit card?" the cashier asked, raising an eyebrow at Tink.

Tink grinned at looked at Regina. "She said I could use it. She can kill me later, if she wants."

The cashier shrugged, and rang the purchases through.

"I wouldn't kill you later," Regina insisted, as they headed out of the shop.

"I hope you remember you said that," Tink laughed. "I like you at this age, you know. So sweet and innocent."

"Am I not sweet and innocent at other ages?" Regina asked, looking mildly offended.

Tink laughed, though there seemed to be apprehension in her voice. "That's a conversation for another time, I think."

"Shot gun!" Emma yelled, as they reached the Bug again. "Unless I get to drive this time?"

"Not on your life," Tink replied.

"Then shot gun!"

"I don't care which seat I sit in," Regina insisted, confused at why Emma needed to announce her claim on something that Regina had no interest in taking from her.

"You're just saying that because you didn't think to call it first," Emma shrugged. Regina was struggling with the door handle again, so Emma stepped over to help her. "Just press this button, and pull."

"I would have gotten it," Regina insisted, annoyed that Emma seemed to think she was incapable of opening a door, and annoyed at herself for actually being incapable of opening a door.

"Don't be like that," Emma said, leaning in to Regina's ear as Tink got into the driver's seat. "You can have shot gun when we take the car out later."

Regina opened her mouth to say something, but Emma just winked and got into the front seat. "Where to now, boss?" she asked, looking at Tink.

"Back to Regina's so you two can change and then… I don't know, I didn't plan any further ahead than that."

Emma slumped back into her seat as Tink drove off, but only for a moment, before she popped open the glove box and started rummaging through the stuff there.

"Can you sit still for two seconds?" Tink asked, rolling her eyes.

"Nope," Emma shrugged, and pulled what appeared to be a small scroll out of her glove box. "What's this?"

"Give me that," Tink said, holding out her hand, "it's magic, and you don't need it."

"It's in my car," Emma insisted, putting in back in the glove box and shutting it.

"You know, I talked to Lily last night, after going to your parents'. She insisted you were a sweet, innocent girl, too," Tink told her.

"Maybe two years ago I was," Emma shrugged, not interested in having this conversation with Tinker Bell. Or anyone. Ever.

"Well, Regina still is, so let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"What, you think I'm gonna corrupt her?" Emma grinned. The thought had already crossed her mind.

"I think you really, really don't want to," Tink warned, though she made no effort to elaborate on that.

"I'm not going to be corrupted," Regina piped up from the backseat, having had quite enough of the two of them talking about her like she wasn't there. "I know how to behave."

Emma spun around in her seat, and turned to face Regina with a big grin. "Come to the dark side, Regina," she said, cupping her hands over her mouth and giving, in her opinion, and amazing Darth Vader impression. She sighed as the reference seemed to be lost on both Tink and Regina.

"Watch yourself, Emma," Tink warned, "darkness isn't a joke."

Emma rolled her eyes as they pulled up in front of the mansion again. This time, Regina figured out her door handle by herself, and Emma couldn't help but feel oddly proud of her. They both headed upstairs to change in separate bedrooms, and when Emma was done, she went off in search of Regina.

She found her in a room, sitting in front of a vanity.

"Hey," Emma said, entering the room, slowly.

"I think this is my room," Regina said, motioning to random items on the vanity. "Some of these things, I recognize."

Emma nodded and looked around, not quite sure what to do with this information. "You got nice taste," she finally commented, feeling like she should say something.

"My mother was horrible to me," Regina said, not looking up from whatever little item she was fiddling with in her hand. "Part of me is glad she's dead. I'm not sweet and innocent. I'm a terrible person."

"What does the other part of you feel?" Emma asked, coming to sit next to Regina on the vanity bench.

"I miss her," Regina said, looking up, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"You're not a terrible person," Emma said. No sooner had she gotten the words out, did Regina let the tears fall, in spite of herself. Emma hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to pull Regina into a hug.

They stayed that way until Regina regained her composure, and pulled back from Emma, offering a small, weak smile. "Thank you."

"I told you, I got your back," Emma said, smiling.

Regina laughed, in spite of herself. "I don't even know what that means!"

Emma had to laugh, too. "It means I'll be your friend, and watch out for you. You can count on me."

"I've never had a friend before," Regina confessed.

"Yeah, well, now you do."

"You do, too," Regina said, with a nod. "I have your back, too."

"Good," Emma grinned. "And I will corrupt you, just you watch."

"I might just let you," Regina said back, with a kind of cheekiness Emma had not yet experienced from her yet.

This might be more fun than she thought.