A/N: I can't begin to tell you guys how much I appreciate the love and time you are giving this story. Regina will only remain a kid for maybe one or two more chapters and then she will have to enter into adulthood. This update is a little shorter than the last, but a fun one. Happy reading and happy weekend! :)
"Higher, Emma! Higher!" Regina giggled, feeling absolutely delighted on the swing as she felt Emma push her higher and higher.
Cora glanced up from the book she was reading, her brow raised at the sight of her daughter laughing and talking on her own.
"Higher!"
"How about we slow down, kid?" Emma grabbed onto the swing, bringing it to an abrupt stop. "You'll fly off if you go any higher."
"Come on!" Regina ran over and up the ladder of the tower. Only instead of sliding down, she remained inside for a moment. Her eyes on Emma. "Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you come with me to school tomorrow?" She asked with hope shimmering in her eyes.
"Of course I will. I'll always be by your side."
Regina smiled, "Good," she launched herself toward Emma, giving her the tightest hug in the world.
Emma's chin rested on the girl's, her heart beating a thousand miles per hour. She was just a creation out of Regina's loneliness and imagination, but so help her- she was starting to like this little girl and she never wanted to leave her.
Cora made her way up the stairs, heading down the hall toward her daughter's room. She stood outside the door, where she could Regina giggle and talk among herself. She really believed that this Emma was real. All day, she's been talking and playing by herself as if someone was there. Should it worry her? Maybe it would pass on its own.
However it may be, she knocked softly on the door, calling out the girl's name before entering. Her lips stretched out into a smile at the sight of her already in her pajamas and in bed.
"Are you ready for school tomorrow?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Regina nodded.
"I know it's going to be different, darling. Because your father used to take you, and now I'll have to take you. But, we'll get through this." She smiled, lightly brushing back a strand of hair from Regina's face. "You know if you wanted, you didn't have to go tomorrow. You could come to work with me."
"I want to go. Emma will be with me." She smiled.
Emma smiled as she sat by the little girl's desk chair, observing a mother with her daughter silently.
"Well, if you change your mind, just let me know." Truth was, Cora was afraid to be alone now. Without Henry, everything was becoming too much. "Now, what shall we read tonight?"
"Mommy…"
"Yes, darling?"
"I want Emma to read to me."
"Oh." Cora nodded, "Alright, well…" She smiled, leaning down and placing a loving kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Good night, darling. See you in the morning."
"Good night, mommy."
The woman shut the door to her daughter's bedroom, releasing a sigh. This was harder on Regina than she thought.
"You know, it was okay with me if she wanted to read to you." Emma sat beside the little girl's bed.
"But I want you to tell me a story."
"You mean… make one up?" Her brows shot up in surprise. And at Regina's nod, Emma stood from the bed, removing her jacket and spreading it on top of Regina. "Well… let's see… Scoot over," she motioned for Regina to make a space for her in bed. And when she did, happily compiling, Emma snuggled right beside the little girl, an arm draped around her little body.
"Tell me one about a lost princess." The girl said, snuggling more into the warmth of the blonde's jacket.
"Hm," Emma hummed, deep in thought. "Once upon a time…" She paused, "There was a little lost princess."
"What was her name?"
Emma smiled. "Regina."
The little girl smiled. "I like that name."
"The little princess would always find herself walking through the lost forest. It was known as the lost forest, because no matter how much anyone searched for it- they could never find it."
Regina gasped, looking up at Emma in shock. "Never?"
She shook her head. "Never."
"How did she get out?"
"Well, one day, while roaming through the forest, she came across the most magnificent creature she had ever seen. It was the whitest and, most smartest horse you could ever see. The horse ran away a couple of times, because it was never used to seeing anyone in the forest with him, until he met the little lost princess."
"But, they became friends… right?" Regina looked up at Emma.
"Yes, they did."
"How?" She grinned, excited about this made up story.
Her excitement made Emma smile. "Well, luckily, the little lost princess found a spot in the forest where there were these magical berries. So, she picked some and the next time she saw the horse again, she offered them to him."
"And then what happened?" She asked anxiously.
"Then, the horse grew these beautiful, big, long wings," Emma's arm extended out as she said this. "And bowed to the girl as a sign of gratitude. Then, the princess realized that she had one berry left and somehow knew that the horse had left it for her to eat."
"Did she eat it?"
"She did, and you know what happened?"
"What?"
"She turned into this beautiful princess- grew up- into an adult, right before the horse's very eyes. Her little dress had grown out with her, turning into this beautiful, long white dress, her hair was shiny and black. Her eyes were a beautiful chocolate brown color." Emma smiled.
"Then what happened?" Regina asked.
"Well, the princess hopped on the horse and the horse flew straight up in the air and took her away from the lost forest. And once they reached the biggest castle you could ever imagine, the princess was surprised to see that the horse was never a horse at all." Her eyes looked at Regina, who sat up abruptly. "In fact it was never even a he at all either."
Regina gasped. "What was it, Emma?"
"The horse turned out to be a beautiful princess, just like the girl." Emma smiled.
Regina smiled. "Wow. And they lived happily ever after, didn't they?"
Emma nodded. "And the lost princess was never lost again, or alone."
"I loved that story." Regina lay back down right beside Emma, only this time, she snuggled closer to the blonde's body, her head lying on the woman's chest.
Emma pulled on her jacket, covering Regina back up, her arms enveloping the girl in place.
"Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you sing me a song?"
"You promise to go to sleep?" Emma asked, knowing it was past the girl's bed time.
Regina nodded, her eyes already closing.
"I will follow you way down, wherever you may go. I'll follow you way down, to your deepest low- I'll always be around, wherever life takes you. You know I'll follow you…"
With Emma's voice being the last thing the little girl heard within the darkness of her bedroom, Regina surrendered to the most blissful sleep of all.
Regina woke up the next morning, gathering her backpack and heading down the stairs. "Emma!" She rushed back upstairs.
"Regina, we are going to be late." Cora sighed.
"She promised she would go with me!" The little girl shouted, rushing back into her room, her eyes looking around. "Emma? Emma?"
Since this morning, Emma was nowhere to be seen. Why? Regina wasn't sure, but Emma wouldn't dare leave her.
"Emma, where are you?"
"Right here." Emma appeared, her eyes glancing down at Regina's hand tugging on hers.
"Where were you? You said you wouldn't leave." She glared up at the blonde.
"I didn't leave. I told you, kid, anytime you need me, you just have to call me."
"Come on, I have to get to school." Regina pulled on the blonde's hand, rushing her out of the bedroom.
"You have a girlfriend?" A girl asked, while all her other little friends giggled. "Girls can't date girls."
"Says who?" Regina glared her way.
"My parents. Besides, only adults can date other adults."
"That's not true! You're just jealous because Emma is pretty, and you wish you had a girlfriend. And she's told me, she's my girlfriend." Regina turned to look at Emma, who smiled down at Regina.
"Are you crazy? There's no one there!"
"Hey, I resent that!" Emma's brow furrowed.
"She is too!" Regina was fuming. "And one day, everyone will see."
"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Mary Margaret came rushing up to the group of girl's, her hands on her hips.
"She's being stupid. She keeps talking to herself and saying Emily is her girlfriend, but there's no one there."
"Haylie, we don't call people, stupid." Said Mary Margaret.
"It's Emma!" Without any type of warning, Regina quickly delivered a kick right to the other girl's leg, causing Emma to grab onto her, while the other girl cried in pain.
"Regina!" Mary Margaret kneeled in front of the brunette.
"What's going on here?" Another teacher came up to the group, puzzled by the entire situation.
"Nothing," Mary Margaret stood to her feet, smiling at the other teacher. "Haylie just had a little accident. It seems her and Regina had a little disagreement. Why don't you just take her inside?"
While the other teacher left with the weeping girl and her friends scattered off to play, Mary Margaret pulled Regina aside, sitting her on a swing.
"Now, would you mind explaining to me what that was for? Regina, you are never one to start fights."
Regina's tears streamed down her cheeks, her lower lip in a pout. "I just hated that she was saying Emma wasn't real, when she is. She really, really is."
"Calm down," Mary Margaret soothed the girl's shoulders. "Emma… she's the girl in your picture?"
Regina nodded.
Mary Margaret smiled. She was a gentle soul who firmly believed in children's imagination. "Well, if she's real to you- that's what should matter. Not what anyone else can't see. But, you mustn't allow what other people say about you, get the better of you. You always have to be the better person."
"But Emma is real!" Regina glanced at the swing next to her, who appeared empty for Mary Margaret. "She's right here by me. Can't you see her?"
The teacher blinked, glancing over at the swing, but smiled as she looked over at her student. "I know she is." Who was she to destroy a young girl's heart?
"So you can see her?"
Emma's eyes exchanged looks between the teacher and Regina. She knew Mary Margaret couldn't see her, but she appreciated her playing along. She hated to see Regina cry and felt helpless by not being able to help.
"Of course I can. But let's just keep that our little secret, hm?" The teacher smiled sweetly. "You know, maybe Emma is invisible to everyone else because you're the only one special enough to her. It's like she chose you to be the only one to see her." She wiped away the girl's fallen tears.
"Really?" Regina wiped the rest of her tears away.
"Yes. She's like… a guardian angel that only you can see."
"Is that true, Emma?" Regina turned to Emma, not caring that her teacher was there.
Emma smiled, nodding. "I'm anything you see me as, Gina."
"Okay," Mary Margaret spoke, getting the girl's attention. "You're not in trouble this time, but let's not go around kicking others, hm? If anyone ever says anything bad about Emma or you, you just come to me. Deal?"
"Okay."
"Good. Now, go. Go play."
Regina hopped off the swing and headed into the little play house they had at the playground.
"I like her. She's going to be a good mom someday." Said Emma, crouching down as she entered the playhouse with Regina. "Hey," She frowned, noticing a few tears stream down the girl's cheeks. "Gina, what's wrong now?" Her hand landed on the girl's shoulder. "You heard your teacher. You aren't getting in trouble for kicking that other little brat. If you ask me, she deserved it."
"She doesn't believe you're real either." She frowned. "I wish my daddy was here. He would believe me."
"Oh, hey, kid…" Emma sat on the floor of the playhouse, her eyes locked on little brown ones staring back at her. "Listen to me. Remember when I told you that I am real to you?" She smiled at the girl's nod. "That's because it's true. And that's all you need. As long as you know that I'm here, who cares what everyone else thinks? Ms. Blanchard is right. Only you can see me, because you're special to me."
"I am?"
"Very special." Emma nodded. "I don't know why or how this even happened, for me to be here with you, but it hasn't been boring. Believe me. I'm sticking around."
"Will you still be here when I am as big as you?" Regina asked.
Emma chuckled. "As long as you want me to be."
"Good. Then, we can be like the princesses in your story and we can get married."
The blonde's brows shot up in surprise, a nervous chuckle escaped her. "Married?"
"Uh-huh, just like my mommy and daddy got married. My mom always told me she married my daddy because she loved him." Regina stood her ground, staring into the blonde's eyes. "Well, I love you, Emma."
The corner of Emma's lip tilted into a tiny smirk. She knew this was just a platonic love, a crush that Regina would soon forget all about. "You do, huh?"
Regina nodded. "And you love me… right?"
How could she say no? In just a short time, Emma has grown to love the little girl. She was adorable in many ways. Almost making her wish she was an actual skin and bones human so she could take care of her forever.
"Yeah. I love you." She watched as the little girl threw herself into her embrace, placing a quick kiss to her cheek. Which made Emma smile until her cheeks hurt.