It was almost midnight when Lily padded up to the Mayor's office. The whole pack was off on their nightly run with the pups, leaving her free to take care of some business. She knocked on the door and heard Emma call for her to come in. The blonde was on her feet in an instant when she stepped in. "What are you doing here so late?"
"I could ask you the same question." Emma countered. Lily sat down on the edge of Emma's desk and the blonde came around to lean against it next to her. "You came to talk, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did." Lily sighed and looked down, interlocking her fingers. "I tried, Emma. I tried to be a protector, a Sheriff and a Deputy. I tried to get over my hatred and anger towards your parents. It took all of the past year to do that and in one night, I realized that no matter how much I care about you, I simply won't and can't tolerate them." She looked up at Emma, meeting her eyes. "I'm still willing to try and make this work, but not if you're still on this all of us being one big family kick."
"I want to make this work too, but not if I have to take a backseat to the pack all the time." Emma replied.
"They're my friends, Emma. They were there when I was just sitting alone in my house waiting for my mom to recover."
"You helped build the house, you don't owe them anything."
"And I don't owe you anything either." Lily said firmly.
"So you want to break up?" Emma asked.
"No. But I'm not leaving the pack and you still want everyone to be a happy family. There's too much blood and dirt and history between all of us for that to happen. If you can't accept that, then yeah...I guess we need to break up."
"I don't…" Emma sighed. "I don't want to lose you. I really don't."
"It's up to you." Lily stood up and walked forward. "Either you work with me on this or end it." She turned around. "I don't want to be strung along. I don't want to be someone's little pet or anyone's booty call." She could see Emma starting to get upset with the topic of conversation and knew she was about to run. It was what she always did. "Emma."
Emma answered with a soul searing kiss that took Lily's breath away. The blonde leaned away to speak, but Lily captured her lips with her own and ended any hope of conversation. Hands roamed, tongues caressed, a lamp got knocked over. Lily's purring drowned out Emma's moaning and the dragon could not have been more pleased as she lifted Emma onto her desk and moved between her legs, pulling the Savior close to her. Emma dug her hands into her hair, trying to pull her closer, kiss her even deeper. She wasn't sure how long they made out, but she was sorely disappointed when Emma's phone rang. Lily smirked, still standing between her legs as the blonde answered her phone out of breath.
"Now is not the time. I'm kinda busy."
Lily pulled out her phone as it started ringing and answered it. It was Mulan calling to tell her about a surprise that she and her mother had concocted. The dragon felt a rush of excitement when she hung up.
"Pack's calling?" Emma asked.
"Actually, Mulan and my mom have a surprise for me."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. I wonder what it is."
Emma smiled. "I shouldn't keep you from it then."
Lily touched her cheek. "It can wait."
"No, I know how you are with surprises. Go ahead. How about dinner tomorrow?"
"Sounds great." Lily smiled and kissed her again. "I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Okay."
Lily made for the balcony, shifting into her wolf form and leaped down, taking off across the street and melting into the forest. She flew through the trees, fast and light-hearted after getting some good news on her relationship with Emma. She found the pack in the mangrove swamp, watching over the pups carefully and leaping around happily as they learned how to swim. Mulan came to greet her and she wagged her tail as she met her friend.
"My surprise. What is it? What is it?" Lily asked, bouncing excitedly on her paws.
Mulan shifted back into a human and held up a black bracelet. Lily shifted back as well. "Your mom made me this bracelet so I wouldn't have to wear my battle armor but I could always have it near." She showed her the red one on her wrist. "This black one is for you. We forged you some armor to help you feel better about what happened with Emma." Mulan shrugged, suddenly looking shy. Lily only grinned and took the bracelet and put it on. A red glow covered her form and her clothes were replaced with a badass looking suit of blood red armor with black accents.
"This is awesome!" She took off towards the others to show off her new armor.
"Work it, dragon." Ruby called. Tink and Merida howled in agreement.
"Wait. Lani, I need a cape. You have a cape. I need a cape." She waved her hand and conjured a matching cape that trailed the ground as she walked. "Look at me now." She grinned as she gave her mother and Mulan a hug. A simple press of the button transformed her armor back into her clothes.
After their nightly run and the pack went back to their mountain palace, Lily went into Mulan's specially designed room. It reminded her of the one she'd seen in Mulan's movie. Everyone had their own room that had their personal touch. Lily liked Mulan's. It felt open and free.
"Mulan?" Lily looked around and headed towards a door in the back. She knocked before stepping inside. Mulan was inside with her back to the door, naked and hips deep in a large pool of water. The dragon gasped and quickly turned around. "I am so sorry, Mulan. I didn't know. I-"
She heard Mulan turning in the water. "It's fine, Lily. Can you hand me my robe?"
"Um, sure." Lily grabbed the robe off the nearby hanger and held it behind her without turning around. Mulan took it and Lily waited a minute before turning around. "Sorry about that." She repeated, blushing deeply.
Mulan was blushing too, but she was mostly amused rather than embarrassed. "It's fine. Did you need something?" She asked, escorting Lily back into the main room.
"I just wanted to thank you for trying to cheer me up. It was really thoughtful of you."
"You're my friend, Lily. I hate to see you unhappy. Now that you have your own set of armor I'm not going to hold anything back when we spar."
Lily grinned. "Bring it."
/
Emma finally finished her work and went home. She stepped into the house and found Henry laying on the couch, half asleep, whispering to himself. She frowned in concern and removed her heels to walk forward, listening to his whispering. All she could make out were the words remember and once upon a time. "Henry? Henry. Wake up, kid." Henry's eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up. "Whoa, kid. It's alright."
"Oh. Hey Mom."
"What are you doing down here?"
He gestured to the table where a bunch of papers lay. "I was doing my homework."
"Henry, your homework should be done." She said. "Come on. Get up and into bed."
"No, I have to finish a project." He rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Bed. Now." She commanded, following him upstairs. He practically collapsed onto the bed and she sighed. "Good night, Henry."
"Good night."
She briefly worried over her son's schoolwork over the next few weeks. After a visit to his school, she found out that his grades had dropped somewhat, but they were still good so she let it slide. Both she and Lily had to be patient with each other, trying to meet up between their schedules. It was okay for a while, but Emma had a town to run, and Lily had a pack to have fun with and keep safe.
One day, she had finished her work early, a thing unheard of, and was in the process of calling her girlfriend to see if she wanted to have dinner with her and Henry. The line went straight to voicemail. A knock at the door signalled the arrival of Neal, holding a lunch from Granny's. "What do you want?"
"Just to bring you something to eat, Madame Mayor."
She rolled her eyes at him as he sat down and she clicked end call after yet another voicemail.
"Trying to call your dragon?"
"Stop calling her that."
He raised his hands in surrender and sat the food on her desk. "She won't answer. She and the rest of the pack are at the Rabbit Hole. Granny and the queen dragon are watching the little ones. Saw all of them go in a few minutes ago."
"You were spying on them?"
"No, just happened to notice how your dragon was all over Mulan. You sure you two made up?"
Emma sighed and reached into her top drawer and pulled out her pistol and laid it nonchalantly on the desk. "Disrespect her again."
"You know, you can't always get what you want by pointing a gun at someone."
She smirked. "Hasn't failed yet."
"Then you should probably point it at your dragon and make sure she knows who she's with. Because right now, I'm thinking she wants to try a little chinese food."
"You are an ass." Emma said slowly. "And a prick, and a bastard. You are a terrible father, a terrible deputy and a poor excuse for a man. I want you to understand something right now. You're fired. I don't ever want to see your face again and your time with Henry, will be limited to the weekends only. Now please, get the hell out of my office before I blow a hole in one of your kneecaps and call the ambulance to take you out on a gurney. Good day, Mr. Cassidy."
Neal glared at her and stood up. "So long, Madame Mayor. I see you've become the bitch Regina used to be. Even the Evil Queen is better than the Savior."
Emma glared at him as he walked out the door, slamming it on his way out. She grabbed the food he brought and threw it in the trash. She tried to call Lily again, but it went to voicemail again. With an angry huff, she grabbed her jacket and drove down to Granny's. The sign said it was closed, but Granny and Mal were inside with the kids. She tried to force thoughts of Lily cheating on her out of her mind. She loves me. She wouldn't. Neal was just trying to be an ass. It's not true.
"Hello Emma." Mal said, preoccupied with wiping Jack's mouth after he shoved an ice cream cone into his face, quickly finding that that wasn't the best idea. Granny was busy eating a sundae and feeding one to Aaron while Spencer and Benjamin messily ate an ice cream cone.
"Hey guys."
"Did you need something?"
"I um...tried to call Lily." She said.
"Oh, she left her phone at home. I think it might be dead. She hardly uses it so she never charges it fully." Mal replied. "Me and Granny sent them all to the Rabbit Hole for a night out. They'll be back in about an hour if Regina and Zelena have anything to say about it. I swear, they don't think we can watch four kids without anything bad happening for one afternoon."
"Sounds like them." Emma said. "I might go meet with them."
"They should still be there. Probably drunk off their asses." Granny commented.
"I remember the last time we got drunk and you shot me with your damn crossbow." Mal growled at her.
"Damn." Jack said with a grin.
Mal covered her mouth and Emma smirked a little as she left and drove down to the Rabbit Hole. She easily spotted Regina, Zelena, Belle and Ruby playing pool. Tink and Merida were dancing with a group of friends and Mulan and Lily were having a drinking contest it would seem. She walked over and put her hands on Lily's shoulders.
"What's up, Emma?" Lily said without turning around. "I'll be with you in a second. I just have to teach this upstart that you can't beat a dragon in a drinking game." Mulan only quirked an eyebrow at the challenge. A bartender brought over a tray of drinks and Lily lit them on fire. "Let's do this!" She downed one with ease and Mulan followed suit.
"I tried to call you." Emma said. "I wanted to have lunch together but I can see that you're too busy getting drunk." She crossed her arms, watching them go back and forth until they'd each completed 10 shots.
"Left my phone. Stupid thing never stays charged." Lily replied.
"You never let it fully charge." Mulan added. "And then you ignore the warning it shows when it's about to go dead."
"Well, I beat you in sparring last week." Lily licked her tongue as she signalled the bartender for another round.
"One match out of 13." Mulan smirked. Lily spat a fireball at her and her smirk widened into a grin as it merely washed right over her.
Emma felt a twinge of jealousy at how easy they were around each other. Lily wasn't quite like that with her, but she ignored it and waited for them to finish. Only when Mulan gave up after their 22nd drink did she push Lily's away from her. The dragon wasn't even slurring her words. Mulan wasn't either as a matter of fact, but she stated that she didn't like getting completely wasted.
Lily pulled her over to a quiet booth in the corner while Mulan went off to mess with Merida and Tink. "So…" She said as Emma returned with a glass of water and a coke. "What'd you need?"
"Well, nothing now. I wanted to get lunch, but you wouldn't answer your phone."
Lily shrugged. "Sorry about that."
"This is what you guys have been doing all day?" Emma asked.
"Just about." The dragon drank some water and gave her a funny look. "What's going on? I don't answer the phone once so you track me down? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just...just some bull Neal was saying earlier today. It got me a bit riled up and I had to come find you."
"What'd he say?" Lily asked. Emma hesitated, knowing how it would make her sound like some possessive girlfriend who might actually believe Neal's lies. Lily arched an eyebrow, mimicking the queens that she often hung around, daring her to lie. Emma told her. "So you really thought I was cheating on you?"
"What? No! I know you, Lily. I know you wouldn't do that."
"Then why-"
"Because I wanted to have lunch. That's the only reason I came to find you. I know you and Mulan are just really close friends."
"Good." Lily growled. "I'll kill Neal later."
Emma nodded, sitting quietly and watching Lily closely. She felt like she'd upset her. "I didn't believe it, you know."
"Then stop saying so. If you really didn't believe him, then stop reiterating that you didn't. Just drop it, I don't want to talk about this."
Emma said nothing more, watching the agitation grow on the brunette's face. "I guess I should go."
"No, Emma-"
"It's fine. I'm sorry I spoiled your party mood." Emma stood up quickly and turned to leave. She expected the dragon to come after her, but she didn't. Shit! Why couldn't she have just a normal relationship for once? Then again, she was dating a dragon. That was about as normal as one could get in Storybrooke. She went home and tried to figure out how they were gonna get through this. Henry came home and they ate dinner. It helped to take her mind off of things, but not completely. It was about midnight and she was sitting on her bed, when Regina appeared in her room, dressed in a long black evening gown. "Hey."
"What are you doing, Miss Swan?"
"You mean with Lily? No freakin' idea."
Regina looked around the room, noticing an empty bottle of wine on the bedside table, before sitting next to her. "Do you love her?"
Emma hesitated. She and Lily had never spoken about love. They never said I love you. "I believe so."
"Then stop beating around the bush. You listened to Neal and it'll only screw everything up, just like it's done. Lily has proven her loyalty to you. She gave up her quest for vengeance for you, she tolerated your parents after everything they've done because of you, she took care of people as the sheriff and deputy that she didn't give a damn about. For you."
"Don't you think I know that?" Emma demanded angrily.
"Then why are you sitting here?"
"Because she doesn't want to talk to me, and she won't until she's ready. We both know that." She sighed. "I told her what Neal said and she took it the wrong way."
"Miss Swan, you've been going back and forth with Lily for almost a year now. Keep it up and she's going to get tired. Dragons are notorious for their patience but we both know Mal must've skipped past that trait when she passed them on. Neal said she was all over Mulan? Keep doubting her and you'll be pushing her right into Mulan's arms, and Mulan into hers."
"Why do you even care?"
"Because Lily is my friend, technically my goddaughter actually. So are you."
"You're my friend?" Emma laughed. "Regina, you were my friend last year for a few weeks and then nothing. I get you had a baby and all, but you basically cut off all ties with me and Henry. Not to mention Miss Big Bad Wolf always in the way, treating you like some possession instead of a person. You've acted like you want nothing to do with this town, including me."
"Emma!" Regina roared. "First of all, do not disrespect my mate again. Secondly , yes, I did have a baby and so did my sister. Do you know how much time 4 infant children consume?"
"Right, I wouldn't know because I didn't raise Henry, right?" Emma hissed, trying to stand, but nearly falling flat on her face. The queen caught her and waved her hand, clearing the fog from her brain.
"Do not self-destruct, Emma. Do you hear me?" She helped the blonde back onto the bed. "Throw out the liquor and take some time off work. Happy Endings, love, a family, they don't just fall out of the sky. Believe me, I know. I want you to be happy, Emma and enjoy life. But I don't want you to break Lily's heart. I don't want to see you break either. Not like I did." The queen teleported away, leaving Emma to ponder her words.
/
Lily looked up at the moon. She let out a heavy sigh and crossed her arms as her gaze traveled down to the water. The cold, calm water. Why did she always run when stuff like this came up with Emma? Why was this such a normal occurrence that she had to even ask that question? She stripped out of her jeans and shirt, wearing nothing but a black bikini underneath and dove into the water, the icy depths sending a shock to her senses. Swimming felt so good. Swimming in cold, dark water that made the fire burn in her belly. Once the water started to feel warm, she made for the shore and climbed onto the bank and sat down. A warm towel was thrown around her shoulders and Mulan sat next to her.
"You never come out here by yourself unless you have a good reason. Usually, something happened with Emma."
"Is our relationship that crazy?"
"No, it's not. What's wrong?"
"Neal was being Neal, a complete insufferable bastard son of a bitch, and he told Emma that I was cheating on her...with you."
"What?" Mulan frowned. "Me? Why me?"
"I don't know." Lily shrugged. "I just wish things were so much easier. Like Regina and Ruby. They never fight...unless it's over something stupid. Then they make up with sex and everything's all good. But no. Emma's as crazy and messed up as I am."
"That's why you care about her, Lily." Mulan said. "Because she's like you."
"No wonder this is hard as hell then."
"It doesn't have to be…"
Lily turned to look at Mulan. Mulan met her gaze evenly. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know…"
/
It took forever for Emma to trek out to the small lake that she knew Lily liked to visit. She wanted to apologize, to once again try and come up with a plan to make this work. She didn't want to lose Lily. Not after they'd tried so hard and come to so far. She believed that they could be together one day without all the complications, that they could make it work. Neal and his lies could go to hell. What she didn't expect to find was Lily sitting on the bank in a bikini with Mulan… What she saw, she wished she hadn't...
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Read and Review! Sorry for any mistakes!
A/N: What do you think Emma saw? Next chapter we'll refocus on RedQueen and explore a little of the WickedBeauty love. And of course the little ones. Also, who is our dear Maleficent sleeping with? Find that out next chapter too. I'll have it up as soon as I get some good reviews. The more reviews, the faster I'll update.
