AN: Thank you all for your patience and also thank you to those who have started reviewing ^^ I really appreciate it and you don't know how much it meant to me that I got your feed back! LauraTheChef and Samii16 thank you so much :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter and sorry for the delay, I'm currently working on the next chapter so hopefully it will be up before the end of the week! - R.M.
Emma stood against the balcony doors, looking through the french pane windows in thought. Rumple-fucking-stiltskin, of course he would have to make an appearance and somehow find out that she was in the wrong timeline. He had paid several more visits since that night a couple days ago and she knew he was growing wary of her being there. With a hand running through her blonde tousled hair, she slowly brought it up with a tie that was fit around her wrist and tied it in a messy ponytail before swiveling on her heels to turn around. Emma had promised Regina that she would meet her for a morning meal as well as a walk through the gardens as they prepared for some upcoming event.
"Here goes nothing." She whispered to herself softly before walking to the full length mirror beside the door; wearing a pair of black pants, a white puffy peasant top, a black leather vest that was tied snugly against her torso, and a pair of black knee high boots. "God I look like my dad." She turned side to side and couldn't help but chuckle at the irony, she always could roll her eyes and gag at different overly sweet emotions her parents would carry on with, yet here she was, making the same eyes and notions towards her mothers step mom. She walked towards the door and exited her room, walking down the grand hallway and nodding her head respectfully to the butlers and maids that scurried along the hallways.
With every step she made, Emma felt her heart racing within her chest and it felt like the damned thing was about to pop out. She hadn't seen Regina in two days and had missed the brunette immensely. And as she rounded the corner, her jaw went slack and her eyes went wide at the sight of the beautiful queen that was talking to some young children who must be the children of some of the help in the castle. She stood against the corner and chewed her bottom lip slightly, watching how carefully Regina talked and interacted with the small children that were probably no older than five. She was showing them small magic tricks that made their eyes widen in wonderment and the smile that reached the brunettes eyes was breathtaking.
"I'm sorry your majesty, I took my eyes off them for a mere moment." A young woman came bustling through the doors of the kitchen, her apron a mess and her hair hidden behind a wrap.
"It's quite alright, they were just lost. Now you two behave and be good to your mother." Regina smiled and patted their cheeks lovingly before standing and as she turned, she jumped in her spot as an all to eager blonde was standing right behind her. "Oh dear god." She held her chest and looked up at the taller woman.
"Well.…I know I can be great, but calling me god is a little much." Emma grinned childishly before watching as the mother and children scurried off to the kitchen once more. "I was going to meet you in the dining hall, but yet I was too enthralled with watching you from afar." She offered her arm, in which Regina gratefully took.
With a small smack, Regina huffed slightly and rolled her eyes. "Idiot." She muttered, which caused Emma to bite back a grin, Regina had called her that back in Storybrooke on occasion but now, now the meaning was slightly endearing in such a way where Emma 'was' Regina's idiot.
"Well Regina, now that we are alone." Emma whispered softly against the brunettes ear, she placed a tender kiss against the sensitive flesh. "You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress." Her emerald eyes did a once over and she was indeed impressed by how much the queen dressed up today. With her brown hair in long curls that reached her lower back, a beautiful emerald green dress adorned her body snuggly with an ivory and gold bodice that was firmly fastened to accentuate the beautiful curves that Regina was not shy to display.
A hue of pink dusted across olive skin as Regina looked downwards slightly; fighting hard not to give in to the compliments of Emma.
"Aww, Did I make you blush." Emma pushed on and grinned widely, her hand reaching down and cupped the queens cheek as she made her look up at her with shy eyes.
"Emma.…" Her voice called out softly, cooing almost.
"Yes." She breathed out and as she slowly leaned in, she felt the soft tickle of Regina's breath against her own lips and swallowed thickly.
"We are going to be late for breakfast." She heard a soft click of the queens tongue and the woman took a step back with a mischievous grin, turning on her heels and began to walk towards the grand hall.
Emma stood there, flabbergasted at what had just partook. She was set up and left by Regina. The expression slowly formed into a smirk as she jogged up to the queen, doing a once over to make sure that no one was around before she scooped the woman up into her arms and braced herself for the scream she knew she was going to hear.
As she knew it, Regina let out a yelp and hit the poor blonde against her chest as Emma carried her bridal style towards the grand hall.
"I felt like you didn't need to walk your majesty, as your subject let me be your feet and take you anywhere." Emma grinned and watched a playful expression slowly adorn the face of the brunette.
"Well, since you put it that way, maybe you should carry me everywhere." Regina hummed and leaned into the woman's embrace, always finding comfort within Emma's strong and loving arms. She had missed the blonde in the two days she had been absent and though things were slightly complicated, just being close to Emma had been such a natural feeling. She felt lighter, happier, and slightly scared that this was going to end; as did all things that made the queen happy.
"Well if that's what makes my queen happy, so be it. A small price to pay for such a beautiful smile." Emma grinned and she felt her cheeks heat up. 'God I'm turning into my father'. She thought to herself before groaning inwardly.
"Well aren't you a charming subject, I think I will keep you around indefinitely." Regina whipped back and laughed softly while guards had opened the door to the great hall and the two looked at the beautifully set table. There were fruits set across one half where the two were going to sit along with different delicacies scattered along the table along with a tray of tea.
"I like to think I'm charming." Emma hummed softly before getting down on one knee and bringing Regina in a sitting position on it before allowing her to stand up, she took the queens left hand and placed a chaste kiss against it while looking at the queen earnestly. "At least only for you." Emma whispered softly, she wanted to make so much out of this time she had with Regina as she knew the days were now numbered and when she went home, Robin was there with her and that there would be no place for her in Regina's heart there.
"I'd like to hope so." Regina whispered softly while blushing madly, no one had treated her in such a way, not even Maleficent whose charms were more prominent in the bedroom.
As Emma pulled out the chair for Regina, she scooted her in and took her respectful spot to the right of her.
"So, Regina when is the ball going to be?" Emma asked softly as she began to make her plate up with an egg tart, some fruit, and some linked sausages.
"Well, it will be next week and we will be leaving in three days as it will take a couple days for us to get there. It will be in King Georges land in celebration of one of my friends Kathrine and his son James' engagement. It appears James and Snow white are on the off's making way for my friend to marry him….which in my opinion isn't very suiting but oh well." Regina shrugged as she made her plate as well.
Emma looked at Regina and down at her plate, but wasn't her parents supposed to be together by now? Why weren't they or is this just a small portion of the chapter in which she didn't read in Henry's book.
"I see, well if you don't mind me making a request, I must ask that I do not wear a ball gown." Emma hummed a bit, she hated the dressed and there was no way she was going to wear some extravagant gown that night.
"I would never dream of you in one, though we will have to have a tailor come out today and take your size so I can get you the proper attire." Regina took a sip of her tea before taking small bites of her fruit. "You know I was kind of like how you are now when I was a teenager….I loved wearing my riding clothes and riding my horse all day or playing some outdoor games with my father, my mother would often tell me I act like a man, but I felt like I acted free and she didn't like that." Regina admitted "So I find something so…beautifully refining about how you are and it is much more chivalrous than even some men are. You are one of a kind Emma." Regina smiled up at the blonde while taking another bite of her food, grabbing a piece of toast and spreading some apple jam across it.
Emma felt her heart swell with both pride and gratefulness. Since arriving, she had gotten several compliments from the usually hard to please queen and now, here she was having breakfast and interacting in a way that most lovers would.
"Well, thank you Regina." She smiled and took a bite of sausage, chewing slowly while looking at the meticulous way that the brunette would eat. "So after this, would you mind if I excuse myself for a moment before meeting you in the gardens?" She asked softly before looking up at the brunette with a gentle smile.
"Of course, though I do ask you to hurry as I do have to later go over some things with you and then have you go over lessons with Mary on etiquette at a ball." Regina then snapped her eyes wide. "Wait, do you know how to dance correctly, I know we danced that one night but to do several different dances that are from our world?" Regina groaned softly. "Those dances can be so intimate but also just very intense, if you don't do the proper footwork you will be stepping all over me." Her nose scrunched slightly before groaning. "Scratch that, we will be spending most of your free time going over dances." Regina waved her strawberry slightly before eating it and then settling for another apple slice.
Emma nodded and couldn't help but chuckle, earning a curious glance from the woman beside her. "You're just very….cute." Emma admitted, knowing that the brunette was going to ask her.
Regina coughed and took a drink of her tea. "Well, thank you dear." She whispered shyly.
The two of them continued eating in silence, stealing glances of one another until they were full. Emma stood up and gently took Regina's hand and awaited her to get to her feet. "Regina…" She smiled softly and placed her lips gently against the soft flesh of the woman's hand. "I will meet you at the gardens, wait for me under your tree." She smiled softly and wanted so badly to feel Regina's lips against hers, but decided to wait until they met up again.
"Do hurry dear, I've spent two days without you and though our ….current situation has progressed wonderfully, I would like to see more of you. So please…" Regina looked at Emma with a sense of longing within those beautiful brown eyes and earned a nod from the blonde.
"I will hurry, so I must leave now." Emma whispered and cupped the woman's cheek lovingly before dropping both her hands to her side and walked quickly out of the grand hall and to her chambers.
-
"Damnit how am I supposed to do this." Emma whispered as she walked inside her room, pacing back and forth in angst. She had a week until she had to break Regina's heart and it was simply too much, it hurt too much to think that she was going to put this woman who only knew pain through so much more pain. She had to think of something to do in order to make sure that somehow, Regina would remember when she got back, but she didn't know how.
"What are you supposed to do." A deep sultry voice came and Emma whipped around and saw Maleficent sitting at the foot of her bed.
Emma jumped and looked at the woman with slight irritation. "Oh don't look at me like that, I came to talk quickly to you before leaving and don't worry." Her icy blue eyes rolled in her own irritation. "I will leave for a while until things are figured out, but I did want to talk to you." She stood and flattened her purple dress out, walking towards Emma like a lion towards it's prey. "I just wanted to say….I don't know how you did it…how you somehow captured the very thing I wanted for so much longer, but….in any case….Regina needs to be happy, she deserves to be happy." Maleficent went on, her eyes searching the latters with some sort of fear. "I don't want her to go back to how she was, as much as I did enjoy her darkness…I know that it was going to eat her alive…and that curse…that dark curse she was wanting to cast would be too heavy a burden on her… I, I can't have her casting it…" Her eyes dropped down to the ball on her staff and she cleared her throat. "I just…well I want you to not hurt her, in whatever you do, do it to make her happy because I will rip you apart and burn you so fast you will not even know what that horrible smell is until you are my lunch." Maleficent growled and grabbed Emma by her vest and looked down at her, Emma was tall but Maleficent in her heels did put a little difference in her height. She felt the older woman's breath against hers and her eyes searched upwards in those icy blue eyes that were over pouring with turmoil. "Goodbye….Emma." She whispered before evaporating into black smoke and Emma was left with nothing but an even heavier feeling in her chest.
She gathered the items she needed and had made her journey towards the gardens, it had taken a bite longer with the interruption of Maleficent, but it was just enough to hopefully not piss Regina off any more than she possibly already has. She took off in a light jog from her bedroom and down the several hallways it took to reach the door that led out to the vast gardens, as she passed the already open door she watched as Regina looked out to some unknown with her arms wrapped around her petit waist.
Emma set down a small bag that was tied to her belt and fixed her guitar before playing it softly, causing the brunette to jump in her place and look at Emma with a confused expression.
Emma swallowed thickly as she strummed a couple chords to calm her nerves. She only had a week, one week to convey her feelings that have been flourishing with this beautiful woman, convey what she wanted her to know and it may be selfish but she would rather know in this life time than never knowing at all.
"Wise men say only fools rush in" She began to sing softly, her eyes catching Regina's as the familiar song left her lips, remember that she would so often hear this along with countless other Elvis songs playing from her foster parent's radios.
"But I can't help falling in love with you" Her fingers worked the guitar as her voice came out, her eyes never leaving the latter's as Regina walked up closer to her.
"Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you?" She took a small break as she continued to play, her eyes urging her to break the contact that held Regina's as they felt so full of guilt. This whole time she knew who Regina was, the hurt she had endured, the pain she would endure, the suffering, loneliness, and she knew how much this in itself would hurt the woman but, for her own selfish reasons, she wanted the woman to know that she was loved, even if it wasn't to be in this time or for the next thirty years.
Emma parted her lips as she took another breath and began to sing once more. "Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes" Her emerald eyes shut as she held back the emotions she was feeling, dear god did she want to cry, she would have to give it all up soon.
"Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too" She sang out softly and paused for a moment, her fingers stopping the strumming.
"For I can't help falling in love with you"
"Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes"Regina began to walk closer to Emma as tears filled her eyes and her hands gripped tightly at her dress, she watched as Emma continued to sing and she had swore she never heard anything so beautiful or sweet in all her years alive. No one had ever even tried to show such a sweet gesture to her and this in fact was something she could only ever read about in her books.
"Some things are meant to be" Emma sung out as she then looked up and was slightly started to see Regina right in front of her, her hands continuing to play the chords with ease.
"Take my hand, take my whole life too" She sang out even softer, almost as a beg. She knew in years to come after this, when they were going to meet once more that she would gladly ask Regina to do so.
"For I can't help falling in love with you" Emma sang out sweetly before the last verse came and she set down the guitar and let it set against the chair to the left of her before singing out the very last verse.
"For I can't help falling in love with you- Regina." She whispered out and felt the brunette collide against her as Regina jumped into her arms and pressed her lips once more against her own, her arms wrapping around the woman's thin waist as she closed her eyes and pushed back the tears that so urgently begged to fall. That all to familiar feeling of magic tingled throughout every part of the woman as if it was rushing through her like blood as their lips danced together slowly yet urgently. She felts Regina's emotions swirl within her own as soft thin fingers ran through her hair, pressing her closer to the woman with such loving need it made her head swirl with emotion.
Regina slowly pulled back, breathing heavily while looking up in Emma's beautiful green eyes. "I love you too."