Hey everyone! I just want to say thank you so much for all the love and support you've given this story so far! It's going to start winding down now, but don't worry, I promised it would lead into adult Swan Queen, and it will :) :)

Chapter Fifteen

Once the girls were changed into their pajamas and cozied under the covers, they began to plan their next date.

"I'm thinking, maybe we could pack a picnic and go to the park," Emma suggested, grinning at the thought of sitting on a blanket under a tree. A tree. "No, not at the park! A picnic under your apple tree!"

Regina smiled. "I like that idea. And then perhaps we could go riding after that, if Storybrooke does have stables?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, as long as you're gonna teach me!"

"Do you think your parents will allow us to be out that long unsupervised?" Regina asked, suddenly.

"Maybe we'll talk Henry into chaperoning? They seem to trust him. Well, they trust you, too. It's just me who has made a bad impression."

"I think your mother liked that you cooked with her tonight."

"Yeah. Too bad I suck at it," Emma laughed. "But yeah, I think she did. You know, Granny thinks I'm gonna regret it if I don't, like, reach out to them or something while I'm a teenager. Like, let them be my parents, she said."

"Is that what you're going to do?"

Emma shrugged. "We'll see."

She leaned forward to give Regina a long kiss good night, before finally turning off the light. Somewhere in the middle of the night she woke up, and for a split second she considered waking Regina up and heading back up to that clock tower, but, instead, she just kissed the sleeping brunette on the temple, and closed her eyes again.

Getting caught sneaking out had always been a thrill for her. Getting caught doing anything, really, because parents couldn't ignore her when she was getting into trouble. A teacher once had told her that she seemed to prefer negative attention, but as far as Emma could tell, negative attention beat getting not attention at all.

But the risk was too high now. The aftermath wouldn't be grounding or extra chores. The punishment would be Regina got to go off with Tink, while she stayed at the apartment with Granny. It really was a punishment for both of them, Emma figured, since she knew Regina hated being separated from her just as much as she hating being separated from Regina, and that wasn't fair. It wasn't far to drag Regina out to do something she didn't even want to do, when the result could very well be Regina getting punished right along with her.

Emma couldn't remember the last time she had actually considered someone else's feelings when making her decisions. She felt a glimmer of the girl she used to be returning to her now. She had planned on corrupting Regina, but it seemed now that Regina was helping restore some of her sweetness to her.

Strange, Emma thought, as she drifted back to sleep.

Regina groaned softly as she woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. She blinked a few times, allowing her surroundings to come into focus, and realized she had been here before. This was the upstairs of the Charmings' loft. This was Emma's bedroom.

What the hell?

She sat up and looked down at what she was wearing: soft blue and grey plaid flannel pajama pants and a grey jersey knit sleep shirt. And she started to remember. The memories of the spell she and Emma had attempted to enact in her vault – it was meant to be a protection spell to strengthen the border around Storybrooke, but Emma had skipped a section and Regina hadn't noticed and the next thing she knew, they were both sixteen again, with no memories.

But now she remembered. She also remembered being sixteen, and sneaking out and drinking and kissing and… oh, shit.

She pulled back the covers from her legs and got up quickly to look in the mirror. Sure enough, she was definitely back to her old self. She looked into her own wary eyes as she thought about all the fall-out and aftermath she and Emma were going to have to deal with now.

Emma.

Regina turned back to the bed, where Emma slept in a ball under the covers still, her long blonde hair a mess over the pillows. Inwardly, Regina cringed for a moment, thinking about how they had been sleeping in the same bed this whole time. How had Snow and David allowed that? She supposed they didn't think it was an issue, since they didn't know what else the two had gotten up to during that time.

Regina stepped over to the bed and shook Emma's shoulders. "Emma," she said, as she shook Emma a little harder. Emma grunted and rolled over, and when Regina saw her face she gasped. Emma's eyes fluttered open, and then immediately narrowed suspiciously on Regina.

"You're still sixteen," Regina marvelled, shaking her head.

Emma sat up quickly. "Regina? Why are you old?"

"I'm not," Regina said, defensively. "I'm back to normal. You're still young, however."

"Why?" Emma asked, panic setting in. She didn't want to be stuck at sixteen if Regina was back to normal. What if this Regina didn't want her anymore? What if she went running back to her boyfriend? She didn't want this thirty-something Regina imposter. She wanted her Regina.

Regina shook her head again, as she sat down on the bed next to Emma. Instinctively, Emma scooted a few inches away, but Regina pretended not to notice. "Your magic is stronger than mine," she started, hazarding a guess, "but I've used magic longer and had more magic used on me. I guess I have a higher tolerance than you do? It wore off for me, it will wear off for you, too."

Emma couldn't help the look of disappointment that was washing over her face. "What about the meantime?" she asked, softy. "I don't wanna be alone."

"You're not alone," Regina assured her. "I'm right here."

"But you're not you. You're not my Regina."

Regina smiled, and placed her hand tentatively on Emma's. Emma didn't pull it away, though she continued to regard Regina with distrust. "I can assure you," Regina said, "I am that girl, deep down. That girl wasn't me, not yet, but she's still here." Regina pointed to her heart, for emphasis.

"It's still not the same."

"I know. But I'm sure it won't be for much longer." Regina sighed, and then started to chuckle.

"What?" Emma asked, her eyes gaining a look of pure confusion.

"You, my dear, managed to corrupt my sixteen-year-old self, in your way. I was a princess, you know. I can't believe the things I let you talk me in to…. Sneaking out, drinking… kissing."

"You liked it," Emma said, grinning. "It didn't take all that much convincing, your highness."

"Your Majesty," Regina corrected. To her dismay, the smile fell off of Emma's face as quickly as it had appeared.

"So it's true, then? The Evil Queen and all that?"

Regina closed her eyes and sighed heavily, before nodding. She opened her eyes and looked at Emma again. "Yes, it is, but I haven't been that person for a long time. She's gone, thanks to Henry. And thanks, in part, to you, too, I suppose, though that was something I was never able to admit before. And for the record, I never would have killed you as a baby. Everyone thought I would, and truthfully, maybe I had thought so too, at one point, but… I wouldn't have. I know myself, and even at my absolute worst, I couldn't have done it."

"I know you, too, and I don't think you could have, either," Emma agreed, solemnly.

"That's sweet, dear, but you – this you, I mean – you only know my younger, uncorrupted self," Regina reminded her. "However… I know you don't remember this, but you once told me that we understand each other, and that understanding makes us special. I hope you don't tease me for this when you are back to your old self, but I think this time together, as sixteen-year-olds, pushed that understanding to a much deeper level. We are special."

Emma smiled again. Though she didn't remember specifically what Regina was referring to, she could only assume that she meant they had a connection and that connection had deepened. Maybe she still wanted her after all. Emma didn't hesitate. Without warning, she leaned in to kiss this all-grown-up version of Regina.

For her part, Regina recognized what Emma was about to do, and she put her free hand up to stop her before she could even start. "No, Emma. It's not appropriate anymore," she said, softly.

The hurt and defeat on Emma's face was painfully obvious as she turned away, and pulled her hand free from Regina's. She drew her knees up to her chest, and went to bury her head in her arms from embarrassment, but Regina stopped her with a gentle hand under her chin, coaxing Emma to look at her, again. "You do understand why it's inappropriate?"

"I thought you liked me," Emma said, sounding far younger than sixteen in that moment.

"Emma, it's not a matter of whether I like you. I'm not sixteen anymore. I'm an adult and you're a child, and that makes it inappropriate," Regina explained.

"I'm not a child," Emma said, defensively.

"To me, you are. And I'm not going to take advantage of you."

"Why not? Everyone else does," Emma pouted.

"I won't," Regina reiterated. As Emma blinked up at her with eyes watery from unshed tears, Regina was reminded of something Emma had said at the diner that first night. "You told Lily you had to earn your room and board on your back. You didn't make that up, did you?"

Emma shook her head, looking down. "No. I lied when you asked me about it because you were so scared already and I didn't want to make it worse."

"You were sweeter to me than most people ever have been in my life," Regina said, wrapping her arms around Emma and pulling her close. Emma closed her eyes and let her head fall onto Regina's chest. "As an adult, you always try to protect me, and now that I know you at sixteen, I'm well-aware that it's your innate instinct. No one's ever protected you, though, and I'm sorry for that."

In spite of herself, Emma let her tears begin to fall as Regina lightly stroked her hair. She missed her Regina, the one who was sweet and innocent and needed her, but this Regina made her feel safe, which was something she had been craving for so long in her life.

"So what now? What happens between us now?" Emma asked, trying to swallow back her sobs. "Are you going to go back to your boyfriend?"

Regina was silent for a few moments. "I'm… not sure. This is a conversation that needs to wait until you're back to yourself as well, and you know what you want."

"I know what I want!" Emma insisted.

"You know what you want right now," Regina corrected. "This conversations needs to wait."

Emma nodded against Regina's chest. "Do you think, now that you're an adult, that I can just stay with you today?" Emma asked, quietly, as she played absently with the neckline of Regina's shirt with one hand, once the tears had finally stopped. "I'm not exactly Tink's favourite person, you know. She only tolerates me because of you."

Regina laughed. "Well, I'd like to say that a sixteen-year-old doesn't need constant supervision, but you, my dear, absolutely do. And, you do need to accompany me back to my house, because if I remember correctly, you have a window to repair. And Tinker Bell has a stolen credit card to atone for."

Emma grinned. "You did tell her it was okay."

"Yes, well, I clearly had no idea what I was agreeing to," Regina pointed out, as she gave Emma one more squeeze, before releasing her. "Now, let's head downstairs, shall we? I want to see Henry, and we can inform your parents that Tinker Bell's babysitting services will no longer be required."

Emma laughed as she wiped the tears away from her cheeks. Regina noticed her red eyes, and waved a hand over her face, removing any evidence that she had even been crying. "There, now no one will know."

"Thanks," Emma said, blushing a little at the embarrassment that she had cried at all. She climbed out of bed and headed down the stairs first, where she found her parents sitting at the table, drinking coffee, while Henry sat on the couch, playing a video game.

No one seemed to notice Regina until she stepped in front of the TV and shut off the game. Henry was about to protest, until he looked up and saw the familiar smirk and raised eyebrow of his mother. "Mom!" he exclaimed, throwing the controller down as he jumped up and ran to hug her.

Emma felt a tiny pang of jealousy, since Henry had quite clearly favoured her over the teenage version of Regina. She wondered how the dynamic of them both being his mothers worked. Would he be this overjoyed when she grew back up, too?

Snow stood, looking confused, as she looked back and forth between Emma and Regina. "What happened? How are you back, and Emma's not?"

Regina didn't let go of her son as she looked at Snow and shook her head. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "But I'm sure it won't be long, in any event."

Emma looked back and forth between her parents, and Regina and Henry, and suddenly felt more alone than she had in a very long time, wondering exactly where she was supposed to fit in now. She hoped Regina was right, and it wouldn't be long before she was back to normal, too.

"I guess we can call Tink and let her know she doesn't need to watch you two," Snow said, shaking her head slightly, "Emma, you can just stay here with Granny for the day I suppose."

"She can stay with me," Regina cut in. "Emma and I already discussed it."

"Oh, okay," Snow nodded, "if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind," Regina smiled. "It would be my pleasure."

After breakfast, Regina poofed herself into her own clothes and she and Emma headed outside as David went to work and Snow and Henry headed off to school. Regina waved her hand and poofed her Mercedes to the curb in front of them.

"Okay, that was cool," Emma laughed.

"Magic isn't all light shows and setting off sprinkler systems, you know," Regina smirked as she headed towards the car. "Thanks, by the way, for sticking up for me in the library that day. This town is pretty quick to blame me for anything."

"Yeah, well, like I said, they all suck," Emma shrugged as she got into the car.

"Yes, well, too bad your adult self doesn't see it that way, or we would have so much more in common."

"Ugh, please don't tell me I grew up totally lame," Emma cried.

"No, you're just a toned-down version of your current self," Regina admitted, "perhaps slightly more tolerant of others."

"Okay," Emma nodded. "Um… so, hey, is it true that your boyfriend knocked some other chick up?"

Regina smirked but didn't take her eyes of the road. "I forgot to mention that your adult self is equally as tactless as you are now. And yes, it's true, but it's a lot more complicated than you think."

"A lot more complicated than what? He's having a baby with another woman, where's the complication?"

"The other woman is my sister," Regina admitted.

"Okay, no offense, but that's just fucked up. Like, really."

"Yes, well, we're not discussing this right now, remember?" Regina reminded her, wanting to get as far away from that subject as she possibly could.

"Well, then what should we talk about?"

"Hmm, how about what we should pack for our picnic?" Regina suggested.

"What picnic?"

"The one we planned last night. Under my apple tree. You don't remember?"

"Yeah, I remember, I just… assumed it wasn't on anymore."

"I don't see any reason why not. And Storybrooke does have stables, we could go riding after."

"And bake something with apples?" Emma asked, looking at Regina hopefully.

"If that's what you want," Regina agreed.

"Yeah, I think that would be fun. I assume you know how to work an oven now, so we won't even need to ask for help," Emma grinned. "And, speaking of apples, uh, what actually happened to your tree? The branch? It really bothered you before."

"It still does, actually," Regina admitted, "but I'm learning to accept it. You cut it off with a chainsaw."

"What!" Emma gasped. "Why?"

Regina shrugged. "I had you arrested for something you didn't do."

"Holy crap," Emma muttered, "no wonder Henry freaked when he saw us kissing. It sounds like we hate each other."

"We don't," Regina insisted. "We just… got off to a rough start."

"Well, the first time, anyway."

"What?"

"The first time, we got off to a rough start, but when you think about it, we've met each other twice now, and I think we got off to a pretty good start the second time, don't you? Actually, I guess I've met you three times now, if you count this morning."

"Good point," Regina agreed, as she pulled into the driveway of the mansion. "Now, let's get inside so you can fix my window, and then we'll pack our picnic."

Emma grinned. She missed her Regina, but she was starting to think this one wasn't all that bad, either.

To Be Continued….