The next morning, Emma walked back into her room to see Hook getting ready to go down to breakfast.
"You didn't come back to the room last night" Hook said.
"Yeah, I just fell asleep in the spare bedroom" Emma said. "It was late and I didn't want to wake you."
"You know I wouldn't have minded" Hook said, kissing Emma. "I'm always happy to see your beautiful face no matter what time it is."
"Well, I'll be ready in a few minutes" Emma said. "And then we can go downstairs for breakfast."
Emma got ready.
Zelena walked into Regina's room to see her brushing her hair.
"I heard that you went to the ball last night" Zelena said.
"Yeah" Regina said. "I went by your room to tell you that I was going, but you weren't there."
"Yeah, well I figured you would want to be alone like you said and wouldn't change your mind about that" Zelena said. "So, I went for a stroll on the grounds."
Zelena stood beside Regina.
"And you are positively glowing" Zelena said. "Did you meet someone special at the ball last night and is he here?"
Zelena started looking around the room.
"There's no one here" Regina said.
"Snuck him out early, did you?" Zelena said.
Regina put on a goofy smile and Zelena knew that she was right.
"Well, I'm heading down to breakfast" Zelena said. "You coming?"
"I'll be down in a few minutes" Regina said.
Zelena walked out of the room as Regina finished getting ready.
A few minutes later, Hook, Emma and Regina ran into each other in the hallway outside the dining hall.
"Good morning, Regina" Emma said, smiling.
"Good morning you two" Regina said, smiling back.
Hook and Emma walked into the dining hall, but David stopped Regina.
"We need to talk" David whispered.
David pulled Regina down the hall and away from the dining hall.
"Everyone's inside already" David said. "But, I need you to know that I saw what happened last night between you and my daughter."
"David, I can explain" Regina said, panicked. "It just kind of happened. We didn't plan it."
"Love has a way of sneaking up on us" David said. "And I want you to know that I am not going to say anything. It's not my place. Not to mention the tension between you and Snow right now and that Emma is married to Hook."
"Thank you" Regina said. "The last thing Emma or I want is for this to get out."
David nodded and the two of them headed into the dining hall to join the family for breakfast.
After breakfast, Emma knocked on Regina's closed bedroom door.
"Come in" Regina called out.
Emma walked in and closed the door behind her.
"What were you and my dad talking about?" Emma asked.
"He knows, Emma" Regina said, panicked. "He said he's not going to say anything, but he knows we kissed. He saw us."
"Okay, no need to panic" Emma said. "My dad can keep a secret. If he says he won't say anything, then he won't."
"I hope you're right" Regina said. "Because your mother already hates me and then there's Hook."
"What are you saying?" Emma asked.
"I think we need to let last night be a one time thing" Regina said. "Too many people can get hurt if this keeps happening."
"Would that truly make you happy?" Emma asked.
"Of course not" Regina said. "I love you. I want nothing more than for us to be together."
Emma pulled Regina into a kiss, but Regina pulled out.
"Did you not just hear what I said?" Regina asked.
"I did" Emma said. "Giving up on this wouldn't make you happy, but I promised you a while ago that I would give you your happy ending. I intend to keep that promise."
Regina smiled and then kissed Emma. The two of them fell on the bed and Emma and Regina began to unbutton each other's blouses, but then they heard Snow calling for Emma. Emma and Regina quickly sat up in the bed and buttoned their blouses and Emma ran out of Regina's room and down the hall to Snow.
"What is it?" Emma asked.
"There's some people downstairs looking for you" Snow said. "I think you're going to want to see them."
"Okay" Emma said.
"You look flushed" Snow said, placing her hand on Emma's forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I feel fine" Emma said.
Emma ran down the stairs as Snow walked into her room.
Emma saw Red, Dorothy and Mulan standing there.
"What are you all doing here?" Emma asked, giving them all a hug.
"Well, Granny told us all about the curse" Red said. "And we needed to come by to invite you to our wedding."
"You two are getting married" Emma said, excitedly. "Congratulations."
"Yeah, well you and your mom have been so supportive" Red said. "And hell, I wouldn't even be getting married if it weren't for her pushing me to go after my true love."
Red and Dorothy kissed and Mulan walked out of the castle.
Mulan ran into Belle.
"Are you okay?" Belle asked.
"I'm fine" Mulan said.
"You don't seem fine" Belle said. "And you didn't exactly seem fine either when Red and Dorothy invited me to their wedding."
"It's nothing" Mulan said.
"You don't want Red and Dorothy to get married" Belle said. "And I know why. I saw the way you looked at Red. I know that look. The look of love."
"Red and Dorothy are each other's true love" Mulan said. "Red broke Dorothy's sleeping curse with true love's kiss."
Belle looked at Mulan.
"But, I have been living in Oz with them for years now" Mulan said. "Spending a lot of time with them. More so Red than Dorothy. Red and I developed a connection, but stupid me allowed myself to fall for her."
"You need to tell her" Belle said.
"It won't do me any good" Mulan said. "Like I said, Dorothy and Red are true love."
"But sometimes people's feelings change" Belle said. "Maybe Red is in love with you, but is too scared to say anything."
"If that were true, she wouldn't be marrying Dorothy" Mulan said. "True love is true love. Nothing can change that."
Mulan had tears in her eyes so Belle put her hand on her shoulder.
Emma walked into Regina's room to see her looking out the window.
"Now that that is taken care of, we can get back to what we were about to do" Emma said.
Emma pulled Regina into a kiss, but Regina backed away.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked.
"We were lucky your mom stopped us" Regina said. "This is too risky. Your dad already caught us, but if your mom or Hook catches us."
"That's why we're in your room and not mine" Emma said.
"And how many more excuses can you come up with as to why you are not in your room?" Regina asked. "We may be able to hide this from your mom, but we can't hide it from Hook. He's going to get suspicious."
"No, he won't" Emma said.
"Do you really believe that, Emma?" Regina asked.
"I'll think of something" Emma said. "I love you, Regina."
"And I love you too" Regina said. "But, we both know this is a bad idea. Until we can come clean with everyone, we can't do this."
Emma and Regina looked into each other's tear-filled eyes and Emma walked out of the room.
Emma walked into Snow's room to see her sitting on the bed.
"Great news about Red and Dorothy, isn't it?" Emma said.
"It's great" Snow said. "They look so happy."
"Mom, we need to talk about what happened at the ball last night" Emma said. "You need to lighten up on Regina. Yes, what she did in the past was horrible, but she has made up for it. We can't change what happened in the past, but we can move on from it."
"Why do you want me to forgive her so badly?" Snow asked.
"Because she's family" Emma said. "And you've seen how she has changed."
Snow walked out of the room without saying a word and David walked in to see Emma standing there, so he closed the door.
"Regina told me everything" Emma said.
"So what are you going to do?" David asked. "Are you going to continue this thing you have with her or was it a one time thing?"
"Dad, I don't know" Emma said. "I love her. I have for a while. I can't stay away from her. But, there's Hook and mom to worry about. She said that it needs to stop until I can come clean with everyone."
"And why don't you?" David asked.
"I don't know" Emma said. "Fear, I guess. I mean, Hook is the safe option. You and mom approve and he loves me and I love him. But, Regina. Regina is amazing. I felt drawn to her since I met her and it wasn't just because of Henry. It was because of her. She made me feel like no one else ever has before. She still does."
"So when push comes to shove, you would choose Regina?" David asked.
"If the circumstances were different, yes" Emma said. "But, right now with everything going on with mom, I can't even think about what would happen if I admitted that I love Regina. And Hook is a great guy and I can't bear to break his heart."
"So you're going to give up on being with the person you truly love simply because it's more complicated?" David asked. "Because that doesn't sound like you."
Emma sighed.
That night Emma knocked on Regina's closed bedroom door and then Regina opened the door.
"Emma, what are you doing here?" Regina asked.
"I couldn't sleep" Emma said. "I needed to see you."
"I told you this was a bad idea" Regina said.
"I know" Emma said. "But, I don't care."
Emma kissed Regina, but Regina backed out of the kiss.
"What about Hook?" Regina asked.
"He is sound asleep" Emma said. "He didn't even know I left."
Regina looked at Emma and her heart was racing. Her head was telling her no, but her heart was screaming yes.
"Oh what the hell" Regina said, pulling Emma into a kiss.
Regina and Emma continued to kiss and headed toward the bed.