It was Christmas night outside. A time when you could feel something magical, something exciting and unique. And at the same time, when most people stuffed their bellies with all kinds of viands, drained a year-old supply of alcoholic beverages, and launched thousands of fireworks into the sky. Of course, someone met this holiday in nature, on top of mountains, on a train or an airplane. And, perhaps, some worked for the benefit of society and thought about solving more mundane problems than about a wonderful holiday.

Madame Mills preferred to spend this Christmas night in her office at the City Hall. She was sitting at her desk in her favorite chair, in the company of dusty documents and a bottle of Bordeaux. The spacious room was in semi-darkness, since the only source of light, apart from the pale face of the moon outside the window, was a table lamp with a green shade. Regina sometimes glanced at the clock face, the hands of which were inexorably moving towards two o'clock. Her attention was absorbed in the study of numerous bureaucratic pieces of paper, from which a normal person would probably have gone crazy since these documents contained an incredible number of pitfalls. But for Mills, who had invaluable experience in such matters, these sheets of text printed by soulless machines seemed like light reading for the night. In order not to fall asleep completely, she diluted this boring pastime with a glass of wine, which was slowly drained, then refilled again, like an endless cycle of the water cycle in nature.

The deathly silence was suddenly broken by the quiet clicking of heels on the parquet. Footsteps came from somewhere behind the door, heralding the approach of an uninvited guest to Mills' office. Without paying any attention to it, Regina began to scribble something with a pen right in the document. Soon the heels subsided and were replaced by a timid knock on the door, to which Mills did not react in any way. She thought that if she didn't answer, the uninvited guest would turn around and leave. But her plan didn't work out, as the knocking on the door continued. It became more confident and more brazen, thereby forcing Regina to distract herself from work and shout:

"There's no one here! Get lost!"

"And then who answers me?" a woman's voice was heard from behind the door.

"The ghost of the hanged mayor!" Regina came up with on the go.

"Then I, as acting sheriff, must detain you," she said decisively. "This is the office of my favorite boss, Regina Mills, not some ghost!"

Mills sighed heavily because more than anything in the world she didn't want to see the annoying Emma Swan right now:

"Emma, get out of my sight!"

"No, ghost, now I'm going to arrest you!" she open the door and ran inside with her gun raised as if she was ready to apprehend a dangerous criminal.

"Emma, I'm telling you in human language to leave me alone," Regina put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.

Her dark eyes appraisingly glanced at Swan who appeared on the threshold and lingered in the area of her cleavage, slightly opened by a light blouse. However, Emma's outfit practically did not change either in winter or summer. Now only her jacket was warmer.

"You said yourself that you are a ghost," a sly smile appeared on Emma's face. "That's why I have to detain you."

"Maybe it's enough to play this circus," Regina shook her head. "Tell me, why did you come?"

"I thought that you would need a company for the night, because you're all alone here when everyone is celebrating," Emma confessed, putting the gun in the holster hanging on her belt.

"I'm doing fine. I'm having a great time, see," Mills pointed to a glass of wine.

"Hey, you can't drink alone!" Emma snapped the lock on the door behind her and went to Regina's desk.

"Okay," Regina conceded. "What can I do for you to make you leave me alone? Cut your salary in half? Should I fire you?"

"I think I'll get a second glass first," she said. "And pour me that stuff over there."

"Okay, I'll give you mine glass, and even take this whole bottle," Regina pushed them to the edge of the table.

Swan picked up a bottle of wine from the table and looked at it. "Oh, you're drinking Bordeaux."

"Of course, what did you think? By the way, I'm working here, not resting like some people!"

"Hey, why work on Christmas Night? It was created to celebrate and enjoy life. On this day, real miracles happen!" Emma poured wine into a glass.

"I have to sit here because one bad person prevented me from working all day. You see, we went to the city center, a pipe burst there and a skeleton was found there, then we had to run into the forest, the bear woke up and threatened the residents, then we went to the lake, where poachers fish without my permission, "said Regina, nervously running her hand through her hair. "And Henry decided to spend Christmas with his friends ..."

"Well, I can understand him, he'll have a good time with them," Emma drained her glass of wine in one gulp and winced a little. "And how do you drink this stuff?"

"It's dry wine. It needs to be enjoyed, not drunk in one gulp," Regina sighed.

"And you also need to have a snack, but you don't have anything to eat here at all," Emma added.

Mills crossed her arms over her chest and silently began to stare at Emma as if she wanted to expel the evil phantom from her office.

"Hey, I'm not a villain! I came to apologize for everything that you had to experience today. You see, I even put on a new blouse and," she said cryptically, "something else, if, of course, it comes to that."

"And what is this case?" Regina raised one eyebrow.

Emma put a bottle of wine and a glass on the floor so as not to accidentally break them, then unceremoniously pushed the documents in different directions, thereby freeing up space on Mills' desktop. "That's it, the place is ready!"

"And what does all this mean?" Mills stared at Emma blankly.

"I just found out that the best gift for Christmas can only be the person himself!"

"And?"

"Here! I put on the most beautiful underwear I could find at home!" Emma boasted. "So I'm ready to give you the most unforgettable night of your life!"

"Did you come up with it yourself or did someone suggest it to you?"

"I found out on the Internet! And, you know, they won't advise anything bad there. They said it was better to do it in the boss's office on his strong, large, roomy oak desk!"

"Fine," Mills smiled. "I've been waiting for this for a whole year! I can finally flog you with a metal ruler!"

"Hey, I didn't agree to "BDSM!" Emma protested.

"It says on the Internet that it's nice, so we'll check it out," Regina pulled out one of the desk drawers and took out a ruler. "By the way, you have handcuffs, right?"

And yet Christmas Night is the most wonderful time of the year! And do not forget about your loved ones, wherever they are…