This chapter is for Hypnotoad76 with the prompt: "Emma and Regina are on a day trip out in the real world when someone harasses them for being a couple. This greatly confuses and upsets Regina, since homophobia didn't exist in the EF."

After their stressful trip to New York hunting after Gold and Henry, Emma and Regina had decided that they needed another chance to see the city without a huge threat hanging over their heads.

It had taken a lot of convincing on Emma's part to get Regina to go. Regina hated losing her magic, especially when there could be another threat headed for the town.

Eventually though, Emma had played the "I'm your wife so you should do this for me because you love me" card. It worked every time.

Henry had been convinced to stay home, which had been simple enough considering he never really wanted to be too far away from Violet.

And so, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Emma and Regina took a trip to New York.

They were walking down the street hand-in-hand, enjoying the view that New York had to offer. Now that Emma thought about it, New York was actually a beautiful city. Especially with Regina by her side.

But what Emma hadn't accounted for were the judgments of other people. Everyone knew about same-sex relationships. But even though marriages for those couples were now legal, some people still were against them.

As they walked together, some people barely glanced at them. Others stared, but said nothing. And then there was the one person who couldn't keep their mouth shut.

"What do you think you're doing?" a woman said, walking straight up to them.

"I beg your pardon?" Regina asked. "We're walking."

"While doing that," the woman hissed, pointing at their joined hands. "There are young children around. They don't need to see this."

"Don't need to see what?" Regina asked, confused. Why was this woman yelling at her and Emma for walking down the street holding hands?

"Your disgusting view of love," the woman spat. "We don't need young children seeing your ways and thinking that it's okay for them to do it too."

"Love is love," Emma said, squeezing Regina's hand gently. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a lunch reservation to get to."

"We are not done talking," the woman said. "Not until you break contact."

"Oh, but we are done," Regina said, glaring at the woman. "I would like to have a nice lunch with my wife. And you're not going to ruin that." She shoved past the woman, a smirking Emma walking next to her.

"What was her problem?" Regina asked, picking lightly at her salad. "She was so cruel, and we'd never even met her before."

Emma sighed. "Some people just don't approve of our kind of relationship."

"Why not?" Regina asked.

"They just don't," Emma said. "Usually because of religious views. But mainly because it's different, and people don't like different."

"No one in the Enchanted Forest had a problem with same-sex couples," Regina said. "Everyone accepted everyone."

"That sounds nice," Emma said.

"It was," Regina said. "Everyone was so much happier. And you could love whoever you wanted."

"And then you came to this world," Emma said, chuckling. "How very different."

"Very," Regina agreed. "I guess I just don't understand why people can't let love be love."

"Because they don't have the kind of love that we do," Emma said, reaching across the table to grab her hand. "It seems to me that they're just jealous of what we have. So they have to build themselves up by taking other people down."

"I knew there was a reason I chose this world for the curse," Regina said. "They really don't understand what a happy ending is, do they?"

Emma shook her head. "Most of them don't get one. So they target those who have it."

"I almost feel bad for that woman who stopped us," Regina said, going back to eating.

"Almost?" Emma teased.

Regina nodded. "She interrupted my walk with you. No one gets in the way of the Queen."

Emma laughed. "Damn right they don't."

This was actually interesting to write. Obviously I have no problems with same-sex relationships, but it makes me mad when people are against it. And not because it goes against my own views. Gay people are still people, who love and hurt just like straight people. Love is love, and nothing will change that. Rant over :)