A/N: I decided there was no need to write the court scene. All we want is to understand the emotional repercussions on Emma and I can show that best with a conversation with Regina. Which is what we all want, right?
Regina found herself waiting nervously for almost an hour. It was getting close to the time she knew she needed to leave to relieve Zelena of her duty of pretending to be her but she wanted to see Emma after the testimony. Luckily just as she was about to give up and write a note for the blonde, the door to the small meeting room opened. She jumped to her feet at once.
"How was it?" she asked as the ashen faced blonde walked in, Tink right behind her.
"Awful," Emma said bitterly, crossing and wrapping her arms around the teen. Regina hugged her back, waiting for the trembling woman to speak rather than pushing her with more questions. After an hour in a courtroom, the blonde had had enough of being interrogated. "She hates me, Regina," Emma whispered, pulling the brunette even closer.
"No she doesn't," Regina soothed, rubbing a hand up and down the blonde's back. "She'll understand."
"She literally yelled at me as I left the courtroom, 'I hate you,' so yeah, she does and no, she doesn't." Emma pulled away and wiped her eyes. "She'll never forgive me."
Regina couldn't quite understand why Emma wanted the forgiveness of a soon to be convicted murderer but she had to admire the woman's blind loyalty to her friend. That said, she couldn't help but be secretly pleased that it seemed Lily would no longer be a part of Emma's friendship circles. Although she recognised Neal was the leader of their group that day, Lily had been the one to pull the trigger. She knew Emma was different; Emma would never have hurt someone, even if Neal had told her to. She was, fundamentally, good.
"You did the right thing," Regina murmured. "For yourself, Emma. For us, you and me, you did the right thing."
"I guess, but right now, I feel like the worst friend in the world."
Knowing there was nothing she could say to change Emma's mind, Regina just wrapped her arms back around the blonde, offering her some semblance of support while she worked through the complex emotions. Emma buried her face against Regina's neck and she could feel the warm wetness from the blonde's tears against her skin. Over Emma's shoulder, Regina saw Tink tapping her wrist, indicating that they didn't have much time. She nodded her understanding but made no move to release the distraught woman in her arms.
Tink, ever the advocate for their relationship, stood quietly in the corner of the room checking her emails for as long as she could. One from Henry Mills about an unrelated civil suit caught her attention and sent a twinge of guilt to her gut. She knew she was betraying him by allowing Regina and Emma time together. However, she also saw what the two girls had. Glancing up, she saw them both still intertwined, holding one another in a tender embrace which she didn't have the heart to end. But when the impatient knock on the door eventually came from Emma's guard, she forced herself to intervene.
"Guys, I'm sorry but I have to take Emma downstairs. Say your goodbyes," she said, turning once again to face the wall to offer some privacy.
Regina felt Emma take a deep breath before she pulled back. The brunette offered a supportive smile and reached to wipe the tear tracks from the high cheekbones. "I'll see you in two weeks," she promised, reminding the blonde that they at least had their RJP meetings to look forward to.
"It's too long," Emma murmured. "I just want to be with you all the time."
"Me too," Regina replied. "Nine more months, ok?"
"You'll really wait that long? You won't get bored? Or meet someone else?"
Regina shook her head. "I'd wait forever if necessary, Emma. You're worth it. I know this is fast and confusing and makes no sense but I know how I feel. Whatever this is, it's real."
"God, you're amazing," Emma said, kissing the plump lips which smiled up at her. "How did I get so lucky?"
"I'd say it was about time for something good to happen in your life."
Emma chuckled. "Well, I guess that's true. But you are definitely more than I deserve."
"Never," Regina said, rocking onto her tiptoes to press her lips against Emma's.
Tink turned around at that moment and reluctantly cleared her throat. "Emma, time to go."
Emma nodded her understanding and kissed the brunette once more. "Thank you for coming. It got me through being on that stand, knowing you were here waiting for me."
"I'll always be here," Regina promised.
The blonde smiled her gratitude. "See you in two weeks?"
"Two weeks," Regina nodded. "I love you."
At that, Emma beamed back at her, despite the events she had just experienced in the courtroom. "I love you too."
Tink opened the door to the corridor and Emma turned towards it, spotting her guard who was waiting, swinging the handcuffs casually from his fingers. She grimaced but walked towards him, away from Regina. The brunette stood where she was, trying not to think about the clink of metal which meant the cuffs had enclosed Emma's wrists. Before she stepped out into the courthouse corridor, Emma glanced over her shoulder. Regina smiled at her and raised her hand to wave. And then she was gone, the door closing with a click behind Emma and her lawyer, leaving Regina quite alone.
"She told you she loves you?" MM gawped at the blonde after she had heard the story of the day's event in court later that afternoon. "What did you say?"
"I told her I loved her too," Emma replied, picking up another piece of chocolate and popping it into her mouth. One of the benefits of being friends with MM is that the young woman seemed to have a never-ending supply of candy. And, judging by her slender figure, an incredible metabolism.
"Do you?"
"What?" Emma frowned. "Yes, of course I do. She's the most incredible person I've ever met. I mean, she's clever and kind and funny and sexy and beautiful and she makes me feel good about myself too. Even on a crappy day like today, when I'm with Regina, it feels like everything is going to be ok. That's love, isn't it?"
MM shrugged and leaned back against her pillow which she had carried up to Emma's bunk so the two of them could sit more comfortably as they talked; it had become an evening ritual. "I wouldn't know. I've never been in love, not really?"
"Not really? How can you partially be in love?" Emma asked.
"Well, I liked this guy when I was in school. David. He was dreamy, you know? Like a Prince Charming kinda dreamy." MM's eyes seemed to glaze over at the memory.
"Yeah? And?"
"And he didn't know I existed," MM sighed. "I never even spoke to him. You can't be in love with someone you've never spoken to, right? Plus, even if I was, it's not like he'd be interested in me. I'm just the mousey kid who gets into trouble all the time and runs with the wrong crowd. He's never going to give me the time of day let alone fall in love with me."
"Well, not when you're in here, but you get out in three months, right? Maybe try talking to him when you go back to school."
"And say what?" MM asked.
"I'd start with a simple, 'hi'," Emma suggested. "What have you got to lose?"
"My dignity?" MM deadpanned.
"Nah, it's worth a shot," Emma grinned. "I mean, if a woman like Regina Mills can love me, then I'm sure you can get your Prince Charming. Do you know where you're going to go when you get out, by the way?"
"Back into the foster system I guess," MM said, stuffing more chocolate into her mouth. "But I'll be eighteen a few weeks after I get released so they can't keep me there after that."
"Yeah, but don't you want to graduate and stuff?"
MM shrugged. "What good's a high school certificate going to do for someone like me?"
"Give you options?"
At that, MM rolled her eyes. "You sound like the counsellors here. How are you still so sure that you're going to have a good life? I mean, what makes you think you're not going to go back to whatever it was you did when you lived on the streets?"
"Because that's not what I want for myself," Emma said simply. "I didn't like the person I was back then and I'm not too keen on who I am now but I know I want to be better. I want to be someone who makes a difference, a positive difference, in the world. I want to be someone who feels worthy of Regina and who can feel proud to be with her. But not just for our relationship; I want to feel proud of myself. So far, I don't think I've done anything in seventeen years anyone would be particularly proud of. Being in here is a second chance."
"A second chance to what?" MM asked, the final piece of chocolate snaffled before Emma's fingers reached it.
The blonde pouted at the missed treat but continued. "A second chance to get it right. I don't want to come back here or end up in a proper prison. I'm already dreading the couple of months I'll be there. I know I will do whatever it takes to make sure that I don't end up behind bars again because I know how bad it is in here."
"Come on, you know some foster homes are just as bad, if not worse."
"Yeah but we're not kids any more," Emma pointed out. "We're not going back into the system. Once we leave this place, we're pretty much on our own. We don't get placed with families who, even if they're not great, put food on the table for us. Once I get out, and a few weeks after you do, we'll be adults. No one will look after us or be responsible for us. We'll have to do all that adulting shit for ourselves."
"Adulting is hard," MM pouted.
"I know!" Emma laughed. "But we've gotta do it apparently. And I want to try my best to do it right."
MM quirked her lips to one side, thinking. "Do you know what you want to be? As an adult, I mean, what's your dream job?"
"I haven't really thought of anything specific, why?"
"Because you would make an awesome counsellor. You know, like Ruby is for us."
"A counsellor? In a place like this?"
"Maybe, or just someone who works with kids who've had problems. Between us I bet we've seen hundreds of counsellors. Some of them were dicks but some of them tried to help and seemed ok. Maybe you could be one of the ok counsellors."
It was true. Emma had periodically been sent to a number of specialists. Some called themselves counsellors, others were psychologists, psychiatrists and various therapists. MM was right in their varying effectiveness too. Some of them had been terrible. Some of them had been ok. And, Emma had to admit, one or two of them had been better than ok. Ruby, for her, was one such counsellor.
"An ok counsellor, is that how you see me?"
MM shrugged again. "I dunno, I just think it would suit you. I mean, you'd be able to relate to the kids. You've got experience, as it were. I think they'd connect with you and maybe you'd be someone they'd actually listen to and respect."
Emma opened her mouth to answer but fell silent, thoughts suddenly buzzing around her mind. A counsellor. A future. A purpose. Perhaps, maybe, there was a career option for which her experiences would be a help, not a hindrance.
"I can't believe you told her you loved her," Zelena squealed, bouncing up and down on Regina's bed where she was sat. "What did she say?"
"Well, after a bit of incredulity, she said she loves me too," Regina said, unable to stop the smile from spreading over her lips at the memory of the confessions she and Emma had made to one another in the small meeting room that day.
Zelena screamed and clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh this is exciting. I mean, the whole relationship is batshit crazy and makes no sense at all but exciting."
"Pretty much," Regina nodded. "Hey, thanks for helping today. I couldn't have done it without you."
"What are best friends for if not fooling your bodyguards by being your doppelgänger so you can sneak down to a court proceeding and get freaky with your girlfriend?"
"Exactly," Regina laughed. "Do you want to stay for dinner to say thanks?"
"Sure," Zelena nodded. "My parents are driving me insane with their endless questions about college. Anything to escape that scrutiny."
"You've still not told them you don't want to go and you want to do that art course in the city?"
"Have you told your parents you're in love with Emma?"
Regina grinned. "Fine, let's agree not to go down that route. Do you want to get started with that homework we got this morning?"
"Um, no, not in the slightest. I want you to tell me all about what you and Emma did this afternoon. Did it get really dirty?"
Brown eyes narrowed at the salacious smirk which was plastered across Zelena's face but when she realised there was nothing going to deter her best friend's questions, she gave in and told Zelena everything. Cora interrupted them two hours later to call them down for dinner just as Regina was musing to the redhead whether or not Emma really would want to travel to New Haven with her the following fall when she began to attend Yale University.
Regina had always known what her future entailed. She was going to do well at school, go to one of the best universities in the world and then she was going to return to work at her father's company, work with him to learn the business before she took her place as CEO when he retired. She hadn't exactly been forced into it and she certainly displayed business acumen, but the path had been set for her, rather than forged by Regina herself.
But perhaps introducing Emma into the mix was Regina's chance to do things her way. The blonde was certainly not the match which her parents had picked for her but both Mills knew better than to tell their daughter whom she should and shouldn't date. So yes, Regina would be going to Yale, she would take a job in her father's company, she would succeed her father as CEO. For now, however, it looked like she'd be doing all of those things with Emma by her side. The question was, what would Emma do?
A/N: because our ladies need a future, right?