Chapter 13 – The one where Emma is confused and gay.

Treina is... standing strong, kind of, if a lacklustre romance with non-existent chemistry is considered strong. But the ship is still canon, and that's all the fans really care about, anyway. Season four ends with Queen Drizella taking Artemis and Atticus prisoner in some twisted hostage attempt, and Queen Reina visits Drizella's kingdom to strike a deal, like two vipers circling each other in a dangerous game. Troy remains at Reina's side like the arm candy he is, though he shows signs of weakness in a scene where Drizella attempts to seduce him away from Reina, and Reina herself is the one to catch Freya and Kavalan when they slip into the castle in an attempt to rescue Artemis and Atticus.

"Kavalan?" Reina breathes out, the most stunned anyone has ever seen her, her dark eyes wide and disbelieving when she realizes who the second intruder is. They've been separated for two seasons now, and it's the first time Reina has set eyes upon her Guardian since watching her fall to her supposed death at the end of season one. "You're... you're alive?"

She has her hands around Freya's throat, pinning the huntress to a wall, and Kavalan's eyes are cold and unfamiliar when the Guardian shoves Reina away, standing protectively in front of Freya.

"Keep your hands off of my love," she snarls, her sword poised and ready to strike at the woman she would have once died for, and Reina's expression is shattered, her eyes wet and hurt, and then the screen cuts to black.

"I don't know if I want to watch this show anymore," Henry says in a voice that's finally cracking with puberty, clicking off the TV once the finale episode has finished, and Emma gives him a scandalized look even as he rolls his eyes. "Ma, Ruby's like your sister. It's gross seeing you two kiss on screen."

"And seeing me kiss Regina on screen would be better?" she snarks, somewhat defensive even as he pins her with a pointed look.

"You two would make more sense."

"Henry!"

"What? I ship it!" He throws his hands up, grunting before jumping up in his suddenly-longer and ganglier teenage body and disappearing into his bedroom, and Emma sighs and stretches out on the leather couch, putting the bowl of popcorn aside. They're home again in Boston, taking a long needed break after the last couple years of filming and traveling and bouncing around to a million different conventions, and Emma is grateful for the hiatus. Even Henry, despite his pining over the unattainable Ivy, seems happy to be able to hang out with his old Boston friends. Regina doesn't mention wanting to visit them, though, and Emma can't bring herself to ask, and so they survive on brief text conversations and rare phone calls all hiatus, more awkward than they have ever been in the four years they've worked together.

Besides, Regina's been attending events with Graham in LA without inviting Emma along as personal security, and—okay, it's not like Regina really even needs personal security, it's been four years and those stalker threats have never amounted to anything—but it's always been her excuse for them to spend time together, and now it seems she no longer needs that, either.

Emma knew this day would come, but it doesn't take away the sting.


Ruby stays with them for a few weeks, excited to get to know Boston. Magazines flourish with photos of the two beauties out and about on the streets, sometimes with Henry, sometimes without. The headlines change daily, giving Emma an absolute headache, but this keeps Belle's job safe and her relationship with Ruby under the radar, so Emma is willing to weather the drama to help her friends.

"Ruby Lucas and Emma Swan spotted having a romantic dinner in uptown Boston!"

"Convention footage confirms it - on-screen lovers now dating in real life!"

"First Mills, now Lucas. Who will Emma Swan date next?"

"Look at you go, tiger," Ivy teases, she and Ruby laughing at Emma's expense as the blonde shrinks down in her seat and Henry just kind of sits there in a daze, too busy admiring Ivy's smiling face to really participate in conversation. They've all gone out together for brunch since Ivy decided to visit and so far they've been unrecognized, but at the decibel Ivy and Ruby are cackling at, Emma wouldn't be surprised if camera flashes started going off soon.

"Should I be worried?" Ruby jokes, swiping a tear from her eye. "You gonna be spotted in Boston with Ivy next?"

"Eww," Ivy snickers. "No offense, Emma, but eww."

"Yeah, eww," Henry repeats, looking mortified at the thought. Emma swats at her son's shoulder before grumpily snatching the newspaper away from Ivy, crumpling it up into a ball and tossing it beneath their table.

"Enough of the headlines and tabloids! I swear I can't even hang out with my friends anymore without people thinking I'm a player."

"But, baby, I'm your girlfriend," Ruby says with a dramatic pout, lower lip quivering. "I thought we had something special."

"We have something, that's for sure," Emma grumbles, resisting the urge to flip Ruby the bird because she's pretty sure a girl a few tables over is aiming her phone in their direction. Instead, she reaches across the table to pat Ruby's hand sweetly, and Ivy joins in on the shenanigans by ruffling Henry's hair and kissing his head, leaving a crimson red lipstick stain on his forehead that Emma has to pin him down to forcibly wash off that night.

God, being a celebrity is insane.


They're renewed for a fifth season, and Emma isn't sure if she's excited or terrified anymore. Belle has this manic look in her eyes like she's plotting something major, Ruby is always smirking like she's in on a giant secret, and there are a few stray #Belswan tweets floating around Twitter now that she and Ivy keep appearing in friendly selfies together, which— honestly. Do people have nothing better to do with their lives than to ship her with every co-star she's friendly with?

"We have a ship name," Emma deadpans at some point when Ivy joins her in her trailer for lunch one day, and the younger woman just laughs and laughs and ends up knocking on Ruby's trailer to share the apparently hilarious news.

"And here I thought I was enough for you," Ruby teases her, only to muffle her laughter when Gold stomps past them all with a disgusted sound. The man has little patience for any of them anymore, thinking they all fraternized behind the scenes during hiatus when their contracts weren't in effect, but at least he doesn't suspect Belle of being gay, which is really the only thing that matters while they still rely on his funding.

"Piss off, Lucas," Emma laughs, and Ivy pulls them all together to make duck faces for a three-person-selfie that she tweets later that day.

MissIvyBelfrey: Just in the middle of a Freyalan sandwich... Or is it a RedSwan sandwich? (winky emoji) (kiss emoji) #Freyalan #LoveTheseLadies #squadgoals

The fans fawn over the bit of fanservice Ivy gives them and Emma grudgingly 'likes' the photo on Twitter, because despite all the shipping nonsense, it is a cute picture of them.


ReginaMills liked a Tweet you were mentioned in.

Emma stares at her phone for the longest time and doesn't mention anything about it, remaining trapped in the awkward void that is stilted conversation and unsaid words between herself and Regina.


Twitter and Tumblr are disturbingly on point when it comes to Regina and Graham's break up. It wasn't even a huge deal—they'd attended an event and arrived in separate cars, walking apart rather than arm-in-arm and sitting apart—and suddenly social media is all over their split, analyzing every single photo of them and theorizing on whether or not it bodes poorly for their on-screen counterparts.

"And so it begins," Ruby whispers to Ivy and Henry the day after, scurrying away only after receiving a warning glare from Regina and her apparently bat-like hearing.

"You okay?" Henry asks Regina, carefully slinging a lanky arm around her stiff shoulders, and she leans into his quickly growing body with a warm smile instead.

"I'm fine, dear. I realized he and I weren't very compatible. It was a mutual split."

He just smiles encouragingly, his mop of hair falling into his eyes, and she reaches up to brush it aside with a fond smile, boggled that he's actually a little bit taller than she is now. He's really shot up in height this past year. The two of them really look like mother and son, and with nearly four years of bonding now, they're really starting to act like it too.

Emma wanders her way into the greenroom where they're all hanging out and watches Henry and Regina with hesitant, yearning eyes, and when Regina meets her gaze and her lips spread into a warm smile, Emma feels herself fall just a little deeper into her self-dug hole.


It's breathtaking to be sharing the screen with Regina again. Emma hadn't known how much she's missed it until she's finally standing across from Regina on set, the brunette's dark eyes piercing her very soul as they parry a few blows back and forth, sword props clacking together noisily, to be replaced with the sound of steel against steel in post production.

"Stop this!" Reina demands, though from the crack in her voice, it's starting to sound more like a plea as she clearly tries to defend herself from Kavalan without hurting her. Emma tries to keep her face cold and devoid of emotion, but she hasn't had any scenes with Regina since her character's been brought back, and it's hard not to grin now that Kavalan and Reina are finally reunited, regardless of the less than ideal circumstances.

"Cut!" Belle pops out of video village, both frustrated and amused as she hops up onto set and shakes her head at Emma. "You can't look like you're enjoying this, Ems."

"Sorry! It's just— I forgot how fun this was." Emma beams, leaning in to bump her shoulder against Regina's, and the brunette surprises her by playfully bumping her back. "Seriously, Belle, you kept our characters apart for two seasons."

"Yes," Belle says with a playful roll of her eyes, "Two seasons of Kavalan having amnesia and not knowing who Reina is anymore. Can you please look at her like a stranger?"

And they retake it—multiple times because Emma can't stop grinning— and by the end, they have enough coverage that they can just cut it together in a way that Emma's slips aren't seen. Still, the glint of excitement in her eyes is unmistakable, and it will definitely give the hardcore KavaReina fans something to over-analyze later.

"I've missed filming together," Regina says later when they're sitting alone in the greenroom while the others film their scenes. Her eyes are lighter today, a warm brown that glows in the dim lighting, and Emma silently tells her heart to stop thudding quite so loudly.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun." She sucks down half of her water bottle, throat dry, then asks, "What do you think will happen with our characters?"

"I hope Kavalan regains her memories." Regina purses her lips, then smiles softly. "They made a really good team. Like us."

"Yeah," Emma agrees, blushing and ducking her head as Regina glances upwards at the ceiling, neither noticing the tentative looks of hope in both their eyes.