"Run"

Emma gritted her teeth and ran with the rest of the guards to the fence and back. Most of them were bent over, hands on their knees trying to regain their breath when they heard "Run," once again.

She again made the loop with them although she felt like her lungs were going to plop out of her. Once they were done their instructor yelled for them to take a break. If it weren't for the frozen, snow-covered ground they would probably have all collapsed where they stood. Instead, they made their way over to the benches and helped themselves to some cool water to drink.

As she took a drink from an offered ladle her eyes took in their instructor speaking to her wife. Gerald had been here for a week now to teach them more about riding horses. Emma thought it might be wiser for them to learn in the spring, but Regina agreed with Gerald that now would be a better time because if they could handle riding in this kind of weather then they could do it when it was nice outside. She understood the logic, but it didn't make her very happy that Regina seemed to take Gerald's side on everything.

Regina gushed over how good of a teacher this guy was which was why Emma was surprised when he showed up and she saw how young he was. She was expecting an older gentleman but this guy couldn't be much more than five years older than her.

He was good looking Emma thought if you liked that clean-cut type of look. Regina had invited him for dinner each night with them, although Emma had skipped last night. She didn't want to sit there and listen to more stories of the wonders of Gerald and his skills. Skills, she might add that they hadn't witnessed as all he had them doing so far was lifting weights and running.

She heard Regina laugh and saw Gerald touch Regina's arm.

That's it, she thought, as approached him.

"Do you mind if I ask something?" she said.

"No, go right ahead."

"What is with all the running and weight lifting? Aren't we supposed to be learning how to ride horses better when armed?"

"And you don't see the connection between the two?" he asked her back. She got the feeling he was asking to make her look like an idiot in front of Regina.

"Yes, I understand that we should be strong and quick, but my guards are already strong and quick. I've trained them to be that way. They are strong enough to march for miles without rest."

"Ah," Gerald said. "Exactly. They have been trained to endure. You will notice I am only having you sprint short distances and the strength training has been limited to your arms. Perhaps a demonstration is in order." He turned to Regina. "Your majesty, would you do us the honor?"

Regina smiled. "Of course, let me have the stable hand get Quicksilver."

The time it took for them to prep Quicksilver gave them all the chance to rest up and get ready for whatever this demonstration was. Regina was already wearing her riding clothes and she was speaking with Gerald off to the side now.

Finally, Quicksilver was brought out and Gerald took his reins. Outside of the stable hands, Regina didn't let people handle Quicksilver and Emma tightened her fist so much her nails were digging into her hand.

"Alright everyone, I am sure Queen Emma isn't the only one questioning my methods, but I assure you there is a reason behind all of this. The training you are going through is the same Queen Regina went through and I am sure by now you know how well she handles a horse. All of you here can ride a horse, but riding and fighting are different matters. Different skills are needed for both. You can draw your sword and fight off an enemy without worrying about holding on to your reins if you are good enough and strong enough to keep your horse at bay with your legs. And if you are fast enough and strong enough you can also do this."

He let go of Quicksilver's reins and hit him on his rump causing the horse to take off. As he did, so did Regina. She ran, coming astride of the horse, reached for the pommel of the saddle, and launched herself up and onto him. She got a hold of the reins and eased Quicksilver to slow down and turned him around to the applause of those gathered.

Emma was awestruck.

Seeing Regina run, and pull herself up like that was nothing short of the single most sexy thing she had seen of her wife outside of seeing her naked that once.

"Do you still have questions, your majesty?" Gerald asked.

"Huh?" Emma said not taking her eyes off of her wife as she dismounted.

"Do you understand why I am having your sprint and work on your arm strength? Was the demonstration to your satisfaction?"

"Satisfaction, um, yeah, it was … it was good," Emma said. She walked away from him. She needed more of that cold water, maybe even a bathtub full of it.

…

"You've been quiet the last couple of days, is something bothering you?" Regina asked as she and Emma prepared for bed that evening.

Emma had taken a bath – a colder than normal bath earlier – but the vision of Regina getting on Quicksilver from a flat-out sprint kept her from relaxing.

"No, nothing is bothering me," she answered.

It had been a good month if you didn't count the snow, the cold, the wind, and Gerald, she thought. Each night she got to hold onto Regina and every morning she got to wake up holding on to her. But that was all she managed to do. The little demonstration today had Emma feeling a little out of sorts. Ever since it happened, she kept looking at Regina and wondering more and more what it would be like to touch those muscles she had used to run. Yes, she got to touch Regina, but she hadn't actually touched Regina.

"You are doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"That, that whatever you are doing," Regina said.

"I'm not doing anything."

"You've been doing it all day," Regina said. "You keep looking at me."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, but it's the way you are looking at me. It's different." She said that last part in a more urgent, low tone that Emma thought sounded sexy.

Emma tried not to think about that tone or anything else that would want to make her take another cold bath.

"I'm just tired," Emma said. "Gerald has been working us pretty tough and I'm tired."

She could read the skepticism on Regina's face.

"Speaking of Gerald," Regina said as she got into bed. "He gets the feeling you don't like him. I told him that isn't true, but you have been acting odd since he got here. Do you not like him?"

"Yeah, he is alright," Emma said. And he was alright, she just didn't like how alright he seemed to be with her wife.

She could see Regina studying her, and she fussed with the blankets before getting into bed.

"I really would like it if you would get along with Gerald. I have known him for years, and I owe my skill as a rider to him. I think he will be able to pass on those skills to our guards."

"My guards were fine with their skills before Gerald got here," Emma said. She knew she probably shouldn't have said, especially not with the sound of disgust she made, but she prided herself on the trained fighting force they had protecting them.

"I am not questioning their skills, or yours," Regina said. "What is wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"

"No," Emma said shaking her head. "It's not you."

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Emma."

"Regina, just drop it ok?"

"No, I am not going to drop it. You wouldn't let me if our roles were reversed, now tell me what is bothering you."

Emma huffed and turned to her wife, "Just how close are you and Gerald exactly?"

"What?" Regina asked and Emma regretted asking immediately.

"It's just … you are all relaxed around him and you laugh at his jokes and seem enthralled by his stories even when you have heard them before. You aren't that way with other people."

"Is that what is bothering you?"

"No, maybe, I don't know. I get it, you've known him for a long time and you have this whole connection with the horses, so it's understandable. But you aren't that way with anyone else that I have seen."

"You mean I am not that way with you?" Regina said.

Emma didn't want to say yes, although that was what she was thinking. She and Regina were married, shouldn't they have a relationship like that, she thought.

"No," Emma said unconvincingly.

Regina settled down in bed, lying on her side propping her head up and Emma followed suit. Somehow they had begun doing this when they talked to each other at night – sometimes late into the night.

"The way you talk about your life before all of this," Regina began. "It was different for me. You speak of spending time with your father, bonding with him, and working and training with soldiers and knights. You talk like these people are your friends. And I see it here too the way you interact with the guards. That's not how it was for me. Once I was done being a kid everything became about learning to be a responsible ruler. I had tutors who taught me economics, literature, history, and politics. I was groomed to be a queen, albeit not under the circumstances that I thought when I first began such pursuits. Gerald was different. He was the only one who didn't treat me like the future ruler of a kingdom. Those things he has you doing, he was no less hard on me in doing them. It didn't matter that I was a princess, he wanted me to be the best rider regardless of my station in life. I liked that he treated me that way so yes we became close because of it. All those people you are friends with, well for me that is Gerald."

Emma gave her a small smile. These were the nights she loved, where they would talk – really talk – about their lives, not just about the work of ruling their kingdom. She fought the urge to lean forward and kiss her. She had been resisting that urge – and others – a lot lately.

"So you two are just friends?" Emma asked.

Regina smiled. "Yes, friends."

"Well, I figured."

"No you didn't," Regina laughed. "You are jealous."

"I am not," Emma defended herself.

"Yes you are," Regina laughed again. Emma enjoyed hearing Regina laugh, but not at her expense. She reached behind her and pulled her pillow over, hitting Regina in the head with it. This time Emma was the one laughing as Regina grabbed the pillow out of her hand.

"You did not hit me with a pillow," Regina said.

"You are right, I didn't."

Regina hit her back with the pillow, harder than she had been hit. Emma stole the pillow back but Regina had grabbed her own and it turned into an all-out pillow war between them, that didn't stop until both were laughing when Emma's pillow burst open – raining feathers down on them.

They started calming down, both women sitting up and picking feathers off of the bed.

"You got one there," Emma said pointing at Regina's hair, but Regina missed it when she tried to get it. "Here I got it."

Emma leaned over and pulled the feather from her hair. Their faces were inches apart. Emma looked into Regina's eyes, knowing she should pull back and give her wife some space. She began to do so when Regina leaned forward and kissed her.

…

Over the years Cora had visited the White kingdom many times, but this was the first time she had gone there since Regina and Emma had been married. She wouldn't be here at all if Queen Snow hadn't insisted that they meet now due to the upcoming first-anniversary celebration being planned by Regina and Emma.

She of course knew of the celebration but she didn't know all the details as Regina had written of it mostly in general terms, although she had asked some specific questions as they pertained to things they had done in their kingdom. Frankly, Cora was happy to be getting any kind of communication from her daughter.

When Henry had returned from his visit all those months ago and gave her Regina's letter, she was at first hopeful. After all, Henry had told her that after a rocky start to his trip he believed things were going better between Emma and Regina. She was also encouraged when he told her about her swapping out letters. Then she had read the letter and realized that the wedge that had been driven between mother and daughter was not going to be going away anytime soon. Yes, Regina had given her an olive branch of sorts, but the letter concerned Cora because it was still all about magic.

She had hoped that when Regina had married and became queen that perhaps she would be too busy or maybe even too in love with Emma that she would forget about the magic. Henry had told her of Regina's use of magic to put out the fire and she again felt this ache in her heart that she couldn't explain any of it to her daughter.

When Henry had first returned to tell her of the seer's prediction for their daughter, Cora hadn't questioned it. She knew seers could be powerful and a true seer always spoke the truth, even if it wasn't the truth as the listener interpreted it to be. She had been born with magic and knew there was a chance she could pass that on to any offspring she would have.

Against Henry's wishes when Regina was born she had her tested for magic and she knew then her daughter not only had magic, but it would grow to be more powerful than her own by far. Cora knew of only two other people in all the land that would have power equal to or even greater than Regina's would grow to be.

She had initially refused to go along with the idea of keeping the magic a secret from Regina. She didn't like the idea of lying to her and as she tried to explain to the others, they couldn't stop Regina from doing magic. It would happen unintentionally just as it had for her in the beginning. She eventually allowed the others to change her mind for one reason only – while Regina could do unintentional magic, to cast a curse she had told them it had to be intentional.

So when the first signs of her magic appeared they sat Regina down and told her that the magic was dangerous and it was not a good thing so she must keep it a secret. They reinforced that message over the years with the hopes she would see it that way.

Cora believed Regina did see it that way but only to a certain extent. She hated that Regina felt afraid of the magic inside of her because Cora knew there were things she could teach her that would help her control it. But if she could control it then she could start to use it with intention and that she must not be allowed to do.

Once she had freshened up from her trip, she was escorted to a sitting room where Snow and Charming awaited her. They exchanged pleasantries until Snow got to the point of why they asked her to visit.

"Has Regina communicated to you at all about this anniversary celebration that is coming up next month?" Snow asked.

"A little, yes," Cora replied. "Why is there an issue with it?"

She watched as Snow and Charming exchanged looks and she wished the other woman would get on with it. Their lives had been meshed with those of Snow and Charming due to the seer's prediction, yet she still found Snow to be aggravating at times because the woman seemed to have this expectation that she and Henry should be able to control Regina more.

"Emma has been writing us about the plans for the celebration. I had offered my assistance to her and Regina in hopes of avoiding what it appears we are now going to have to deal with," Snow said. "I had cautioned Emma that maybe she and Regina should consider scaling back on the celebration a bit."

"I have traveled a long way to be here, perhaps you could get to the point of what your issue is with this celebration," Cora said.

"Emma and Regina have arranged for magicians to be a part of the celebration," Snow said.

And there it is, Cora thought, the reason for the urgency. She stood and walked over to the window looking out. The signs of spring were all around them. Spring, a time of rebirth, which was why they had chosen it for the timing of Emma's and Regina's wedding a year ago.

Her daughter was smart, she had been educated from the time she was little with the best tutors they could find. They had the faint hope that by exposing Regina to different avenues of concentration that she would find a niche that made her happy and she would forget about magic. It was why they encouraged her when it became apparent that she loved horses. She had seen how Gerald trained her – unorthodox for teaching a princess – but they had allowed it because they had seen how Regina gravitated toward it.

That first year Regina had known Gerald had been one of their happiest as parents because Regina was happy and that year Regina's magic never once manifested.

She should have known Regina would now try and find some way to learn magic. Regina had a drive once she set her mind to something and this would be no different. This is what she had been afraid of in denying Regina her magical legacy.

She turned back to Charming and Snow who were polite enough to give her the time she needed to collect her thoughts.

"Most of the magicians that appear at these types of festivals are not actual magicians, or only have a small amount of rudimentary power," Cora said. "Most are sleight-of-hand artists who do tricks they pass off like magic. In all the years, including my own growing up, I have only ever encountered a handful that could actually wield magic, who could teach magic, because that is why I am here is it not? You are afraid that one of these magicians will be able to teach Regina how to use her magic."

"Of course that is our concern," Snow said. "We have no way of watching your daughter full-time to prevent such a thing from occurring."

"My daughter does not need to be watched full time," Cora said. She hated that the other rulers spoke of her daughter like she needed to be in a cage somewhere locked away.

"We meant no offense," Charming said, and Cora thought not for the first time that Charming was her only ally at times. He too had disagreed with lying to their daughters. "But we do need to know how much of a concern this should be and what to do about it."

"As I said, it should be of minimal concern."

"But it is possible that one of these magicians could be someone who could teach her," Snow pressed. "And I think we have to assume that Regina has intentionally planned for these magicians to be there."

"Is it possible, yes," Cora said. "I will be able to tell as soon as I see these magicians in person. Once I am close enough to them I will be able to sense their level of magic ability by performing a simple test. Regina however would have no way of knowing as she doesn't know that there are ways to detect magical abilities. If she did, she would know that her wife also has magic."

She couldn't help but bring up that fact and did it with a bit of smug glee, just as she did when she first told the couple that their child also had inborn magic. Cora was surprised when she had first met Emma. She knew the story behind Charming and Snow – that another sorceress by the name of Maleficent had cursed Snow to eternal sleep and through an act of true love Charming had woken her. She also knew from her magical training that as each other's true loves it was possible that any offspring they had would have magic.

She also knew that despite telling them of Emma's magic that they were both skeptical about it being true as Emma had never shown any signs that she had it. She had explained to them that Emma's magic would be a pure form of magic and as such, it would never manifest itself unless Emma had a need so great that the only answer was magic. What such a need would be was hard to say, but it had to be the greatest of needs, it couldn't be for a small thing. Still, Cora had sensed the magic and knew that if that need ever came about, the magic Emma could wield would outstrip even Regina's.

"What if one of these magicians is a real magician?" Snow said, choosing to ignore the comment about Emma.

Cora wanted so badly to knock Snow down a few pegs from the high horse she always seemed to be on. The other woman seemed to refuse to see that magic had a place in their world – in fact, it had played a major role in Snow's life. She chose to believe that Charming was the dashing hero who took on Maleficent single-handedly to save her. While Cora did not doubt Charming's bravery for a second, she also knew there was nothing single-handedly about it. She knew because she had been there and Charming had shown he had true courage and bravery, but he wouldn't have had the chance to even kiss Snow if it hadn't have been for others. One did not face a sorceress of Maleficent's power on their own. Her power was greater than Cora's and it took the combined power of five magic wielders to finally defeat Maleficent by forcing her into her dragon form. Yes, being a dragon was dangerous, but in that form, she could not use her magic either. Once they had forced her into it, they had used their magic to encase the dragon in stone for all eternity.

Each year it was the responsibility of one of the original five to travel to the cave where they hid her and ensure the magic was still in place. Next year would be her year to go. It was a trip she dreaded every time it came up.

"If one of them is a real magician, I will handle it," Cora said.

"How?"

"That I will need to give some thought to."

Charming cleared his throat. "We have given it some thought," he said. "We were thinking that perhaps it would be best if we told Emma the truth."

Cora was surprised by the suggestion even knowing Charming never liked lying to his daughter in the first place. "How do you think that would help matters?" she questioned.

"If Emma knew the truth she could cancel any performances from the magicians before this celebration takes place," Snow explained.

"If we assume that this decision was Regina's," Cora said, knowing it must be Regina's. "How do you expect she will react to that? Do you think she will not question Emma as to why she would cancel them? What would you expect Emma to say in return to her? Trust me when I say this, if you want to drive those two girls apart, that is the quickest way to do it. Regina will resent Emma and any progress they made will be lost. I know because of my relationship with my daughter. No, we can not tell Emma."

"Then what would you suggest?" Snow said standing up for the first time. "Would you leave it to chance? Because I am not willing to leave the fate of our world to chance."

Cora shook her head, knowing there was no way to make Snow understand that there was very little in this world they could control. "This would not be the first time Regina has been near magicians, even one who had real abilities," Cora said. "In the past, I have always been able to steer her in another direction, distract her if you will by giving her something else to focus on. These circumstances are different than any others we have come upon in the past, but that doesn't mean we can't handle it. We are all going to be there a couple of days before the celebration and that will give me time to find and vet these magicians. If say one of them is a real magician then I see two options – neither of which I am thrilled about. As you know my magical skills are considerable, although I have not used magic except for a few times since Regina was born my power is still there – if perhaps diminished a little in that time. Any magician who has the ability to teach Regina anything of substance is going to be able to sense my power and therefore I can make it clear to them that I would be willing to use such power on them if they go anywhere near my daughter."

"What is the second option?" Charming asked. Cora almost wanted to roll her eyes at him. He was such a good person that even the idea of her intimidating someone with her magic seemed to bother him.

Cora knew this second suggestion would be shot down immediately though. She took her seat once more.

"I am tired of this rift between me and Regina. Even with not telling Emma the truth about her marriage, you two haven't had to experience the pain I have had to endure by lying to Regina. I am not trying to diminish the fact that you have faced some resentment on Emma's part over her forced marriage, but it can't compare to what I have gone through. I love my daughter more than my own life, something I am sure you can understand every time you look at Emma," Cora said. "The only way for me to begin to have a normal relationship with Regina is if I speak to her about her magic. No, don't interrupt me. I have given this a lot of thought over the years. I am not speaking of teaching Regina magic. I promised you and the other rulers that I would never do that and I shall not break that promise. But it doesn't preclude me from speaking about it to her. There are things I could tell her that could ease her mind, help her even so perhaps the next time we do not have to worry about her making arrangements to bring magicians to her. Regina is afraid of her magic. We are the ones responsible for making her afraid of it. But if I could but tell her a few things – about how I was born with this ability and how I have chosen not to use it, just as she can, I think it would help her come to a better understanding of herself and me. I want my daughter to be able to look at me like I see your daughter looking at you. That is what I am asking for."