Regina tried valiantly to carry all the shopping up eight flights of stairs, but she was gasping for breath by four. Emma shifted Henry a little and insisted on taking some of the bags.

"It's good for my arms," she said, winking.

Regina sighed as she watched Emma take off upstairs in front of her. The blonde was so strong, she had a life, a job, a child, and she could manage all of it with apparent ease and a wide smile. It was as if nothing hurt her. Regina wondered if she was witnessing a miracle, but Emma had said her way of living was normal, and Regina suspected that the only exceptional feature of this situation (aside from realm travelling) was her weakness.

She had spoken the truth when she explained her life to Emma. She had everything. Riches, a family, and even a family that wanted her. Leopold was old, but his reputation did not suggest any cruelty, and Snow was a sweet, if selfish child. And why should she not be selfish? She had just lost her mother. Regina was lucky to have a place with them, and wishing for another life was both foolish and ungrateful.

What was more, Emma thought that too. Regina had seen it in her eyes when she listed everything she had to go back for. Emma was a kind, wonderful soul, an amazing woman who was determined to help her, but even Emma wouldn't understand her desire to stay.

Regina almost fell on her face when she realised what she had just admitted to herself.

She wanted to stay.

She coughed, but the cough turned to a choke, the choke to a sob, and by the time she'd straightened herself out and gotten into the apartment she was full on crying and Emma was staring at her like a deer in the lights of an oncoming carriage.

Emma held up a finger in a weak attempt at "wait a second", then turned and put Henry in his crib. He continued sleeping, simply rolling over and sticking his fingers in his mouth. She kissed his forehead, then paused. She could just stay in here and leave the crying Princess to her melodrama. Emma sighed. But it wasn't melodrama, was it?

She was trapped in a strange land, away from all her friends and family, and the more Emma saw of her, the more she thought Regina really wasn't the type to enjoy shirking her responsibilities. The poor woman must have been desperate to get back, and Emma was doing very little to help her. They hadn't even made it to the library. It had completely slipped Emma's mind, because Emma had been thinking, instead, that Regina would be… That Regina would be staying.

Emma went out into the main room, where Regina was sniffling into a tea towel.

"I apologise," Regina said, internally cursing the wobble in her voice.

Emma collected the shopping bags and set about sorting what was in them so she had something to do with her hands to distract her while she spoke.

"You don't have to," she mumbled. "I get it. I think. I mean, you must feel like crap. You're lost and lonely, in a strange place, and hell, you've been sleeping on a couch! You're probably experiencing some crazy levels of culture shock and I didn't even remember to take you to the library. But maybe on my computer, I'll get it later, we can have a look…"

It was about four in the afternoon, not time to eat. As she trailed off, Emma wondered what they should do. Maybe Regina wanted to be left alone. The thought sent a pang through Emma's chest. She didn't want to be away from her.

Regina folded the tea towel and looked around aimlessly. Emma fetched her a water bottle from the fridge.

"So," she said, attempting a smile. "What do fairytale princesses do for fun?"

Regina didn't quite ask "What's fun?" but her expression came pretty close. Emma hated the sound of the realm Regina came from more and more. It had nothing whatsoever to do with her quite enjoying having Regina around.

Emma dug around in a drawer, producing a small rectangular box.

"Do you have playing cards in the White Kingdom?"

"Gamblers do," Regina said, wrinkling up her nose.

"Right. Sit your butt down at the table," Emma said, shifting the shopping to the floor.

"My butt?"

"Your royal hiney," Emma joked, swatting at it. She had a feeling Regina had known full well what a butt was.

Regina gasped as Emma's hand brushed against her. She reminded herself that people in this world were far more… touch-y. In the shopping mall, she had seen several couples practically copulating right there in the middle of the walkway and no one else had been batting an eyelid. She sat the object of Emma's attention firmly in a chair and tried not to blush.

Emma was attempting the same thing; she could feel her cheeks reddening as she realised what she'd done, and what she might have insinuated. They'd had enough prostitute misconceptions to last a lifetime, and Emma almost thought she should say something.

"I was just messing around," she said, cringing at how awkward she sounded.

Regina was having rather too many feelings to produce a suitable answer. She was sure Emma hadn't meant to offend, and was even more convinced from the flush of the blonde's cheeks. The thing was, Regina felt… Other things. Interesting things. And she was having several ideas about what Emma could do with her hands on her body-

"Let's play this vagrants' game, then," she said hurriedly. Emma nodded, glad that the subject of her faux pas seemed to be over.

Emma shuffled and divided the cards.

"Okay, so the game I'm gonna teach you is called spit-"

"Spit? I will not spit, Miss Swan!"

"Emma, remember? And there's no actual spitting. It's called that because it's fast, I guess. Basically, you try to get rid of your cards, then you slap your hand down on the smallest pile of cards you see, or at the end, on the empty space on the table, and you say 'spit' and when you have no cards left, that's how you win the game."

Emma went on to explain the rest of the rules, walking Regina through a practice round before resetting the game. To her amusement, and somewhat to Regina's surprise, Regina was a natural, incredibly quick with her fingers, and her eyes once she'd taken out her glasses. Emma had been worried about possibly having to let the almost queen win, but halfway into the game, she was pretty sure this wasn't going to be a problem.

After losing to Regina three times, Emma was ready for another form of amusement. It would be time to make dinner soon. Regina helped her put the shopping away (okay, she watched as Emma did it but at least she was trying) and then they hovered. Well, Regina stood still and Princess like; Emma fidgeted like a child.

"Anything you'd like?"

Regina bit her lip. "Actually, I… Could I take another shower?"

"Already?"

Regina shrugged. "I… I liked it. I would like to brush my teeth, too, if that would be alright."

Emma laughed. "Please pass on to the kid how much you like washing and brushing. But, sure. You go do that, I'll make us something to eat."

Regina walked to the bathroom, taking her new pyjamas with her. She had been fascinated by this world's sleepwear options, and had chosen (rather to Emma's delight) a silk-style red pyjama set. Emma had been required to help rather a lot with the purchasing of a bra and underwear ("This is all?") but Regina had those, too. She collected her towel, and Emma looked in the fridge.

Regina stood under the water, smiling. Surely she did not have to feel guilty about this pleasure? She wondered how many showers she would take in her life. One more? Maybe two? Perhaps she should take them more frequently. She had stopped worrying about how the water stayed warm. It just did. Some things didn't need to be questioned, not when they felt so good.

She swayed to the music of the little machine Emma had showed her; she'd found a setting which played slow, sweet songs with orchestral music behind them. It was both familiar and not. People spoke in between the singers, telling you who they were. Regina's favourite was Michael Buble. They played him a lot.

She washed her long, dark hair, watching the white foamy bubbles swirl down the drain, then washed every inch of her skin. She loved feeling clean, every trace of forest grime gone from her body. She ran her hand over her stomach, tracing lower and lower, then paused. She felt something, a tightening in her abdomen, a need to be touched.

She felt her cheeks colour, despite being alone. She knew she was shamefully innocent; the only feelings she'd ever had about that kind of thing were fearful and nightmarish. She'd never been much tempted by desire - in fact, her mother's threats and warnings about the painful fates of girls who "pleasured themselves" had only confused her. She had never understood what all the fuss was about, it had all been so vague, something she couldn't possibly understand until after she was married.

She wondered if this was what Emma had meant with the shower innuendo in the morning. The twinkle in Emma's eyes was still stuck in her mind. She blinked, then shut off the water. No. She was about to be married. She had to be pure for her husband. Would he know that she'd had these thoughts? Would he know she'd thought of Emma? What would he be able to tell? How did she know her body wouldn't betray her? When she thought of Emma, the knowing smirk, her nipples hardened to stiff, dark peaks, her heart pounded in her chest, and there was a twitch between her thighs that longed for Emma's agile, slender fingers.

Regina dried herself roughly, forcing these thoughts out of her mind. Why did she feel this way? When she thought of her fiance she felt nothing - well, nothing good. The idea of him touching her was disgusting. She had known this was often the way. What she hadn't known, what was ruining her now, was the idea that it didn't have to be. She had known for a long time that she appreciated feminine beauty, but the desires she was having now were almost animal.

They went deeper than that, too. Regina bit her lip, hard, as she pulled on her pyjamas and tried not to think about all the things she wanted to do with Emma, all the sweet things, like talk with her all night, hold her hand, touch her hair, sit with her and just be held, be a part of her haphazard little family… She stared into the glass above the washbasin, tracing a finger over her face, her full lips, marred by her scar.

Emma would never like her in that way. Even if Emma shared her… Her fault, the blonde could have anyone. She could have a woman from her own world, a truly beautiful one, one who could support her, who could keep up with her on the stairs, who didn't need to be helped through every moment of every day.

Regina straightened her pyjamas. She had been in here long enough. She wrapped the towel around her shoulders; her hair was wet and dripping. There was so much of it, she hadn't attempted washing it this morning. Now, she realised, it would either have to drip, or she would have to ask Emma's help.

She took a deep breath. She needed this. It wasn't an indulgence, someone had to braid her hair, she couldn't reach, and it wasn't as if Henry could do it.

"Hey there, Princess. Have fun?" Emma asked. "Dinner's in the oven, it'll be about thirty minutes. It's pasta."

Regina did not know what pasta was, but she smiled anyway, then took a deep breath.

"Emma, do you know how to braid hair?" she asked commandingly, hiding in at least the idea of control.

Emma was surprised, but it made sense when she thought about it. Fairytale land wouldn't have blow dryers. She thought about offering hers, but it was loud and Henry didn't like it and it was so old and dodgy there was a significant possibility it would set Regina on fire.

"Yeah, I can braid," Emma said. She motioned to a chair. Regina sat down; Emma wiped her hands on the back of her pants then set about making a french braid. She was quite proud of it, actually. It was fun braiding on someone else, it was far easier on her arms, and she could be a lot neater. She tied off the braid with the band around her wrist just as Henry wandered into the room.

"Make Dina pitty?" he asked.

Emma grinned. "Yup, Princess Dina's getting a make over. You want me to do your hair as well?"

Henry paused, then turned and hurried off to the bedroom. Regina watched, confused. There was a loud crash; she made to jump up but Emma stopped her.

"He's fine, I can hear him. If he was hurt he'd be bawling, trust me."

Henry returned from the bedroom, proudly wielding Emma's makeup case. He dropped it on the floor and dug around inside it until he had a lipstick, which he opened, then held like a spear as he charged.

"He wants to put that on me?" Regina asked, sounding slightly afraid. Emma grinned.

"He does. You don't have to let him, though."

Regina chuckled.

"I don't mind. I am interested in the beauty products you have here." She helped Henry onto her lap. He snickered gleefully and began to liberally decorate her mouth.

Emma collected the rest of the make up and offered it to him.

"Since you're interested," she teased. Regina glared, but seemed amused as Henry moved from dark red lipstick to blue and green eyeshadow and sparkly blush that ended up pretty much everywhere.

"Bootiful," he declared. Emma cackled.

"You're laughing now, Miss Swan," Regina said dangerously, "But I think Prince Henry here would love to demonstrate his talents on you, too."

"Oh, no, I have to cook-" Emma protested, but Henry had already caught on to the idea and soon she was in the hot seat while he gave her an even more striking look than Regina's.

By the time he was done, the oven timer was beeping and it was time to eat - Henry was delighted that everybody kept their "pitty faces" on throughout dinner and even later on, while they played. He had fallen in love with Regina's old world accent and begged her to read to him again, so she read, he bashed trains together, and Emma did the dishes, then retrieved her ancient laptop.

"Okay, so… You're from the White Kingdom. And you called the whole world a realm - do you know the name of the realm?"

Regina thought about it. "I know it as The Enchanted Forest, but in some texts it is called Misthaven, and it probably has other names too."

Emma typed "Enchanted Forest" into Google. She found a Scottish light festival, and after a few clicks along (the light festival seemed like a pretty big deal) some weird looking porn. She shuddered, then tried "Misthaven". There were far fewer hits, and one of them was a promising looking blog, but it turned out to be Frozen fanfiction. Femslash. Ana and Elsa. Emma slammed the laptop shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. Regina really needed to stop being so damn attractive.

She joined the duo playing on the floor; they stayed that way for over an hour, listening to Henry babble, occasionally sharing a word or two. Regina felt serene - it would have been perfect if her heart hadn't insisted on doing a backflip every time Emma's hand brushed against hers.

"Okay, bath," Emma said finally. Henry scruched up his face, ready to wail in protest, but then he had another idea.

"Dina baff," he said, tugging at Regina's hand.

"I think the kid has a crush," Emma said. "Do you mind? I'll be there too. Basically, dump him in the tub, give him some toys, wash him a bit, and try to get him not to pee in the water. Or on you."

"Pee on Momma!"

"Yeah," Emma said, grumpy at the memory. "You peed on Momma, and it really wasn't funny." She turned to Regina. "He thought it was awesome, though. He loves aiming his pee. We just haven't got the when under control quite yet, have we, kid?"

Henry set off towards the bathroom, sitting down halfway there to attempt to remove his clothes. Emma went to help him but he pushed her away.

"Dina do it."

Emma began to argue, but Regina smiled. "I can do it. The clothes come off the child, correct?"

Emma chuckled. "Yeah, that's it."

Regina stripped Henry down to his diaper. "And this?"

"Okay, you really don't have to do that."

Regina examined the child. "I am to have children one day," she said. "And while they will probably have a nursemaid, I would much rather know how to deal with such things myself."

"You're a brave woman, Mills. Okay, bathroom," she directed. They lay Henry on the changing mat on the floor (there was no room for a table and it was too easy for babies to fall off them anyway) and Emma instructed on the correct diaper removal and wiping techniques. Regina held the soiled item at arm's length the entire time, but she did surprisingly well for an apparently spoiled and sheltered Princess. She dropped it in the bag Emma held out with a sigh of relief.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," she said. Emma hoisted Henry onto his little potty.

"You gonna pee?" she suggested. Henry shook his head. Emma looked sideways at Regina.

"He doesn't think he's lying. I don't think," she whispered. She showed her how to spray and wipe the mat, then they washed their hands and put everything away. By the time they were done, Henry had, in fact, peed.

"That's so awesome, kid!" Emma exclaimed. Regina frowned.

"Why? Now you have to clean the potty, too."

"Yeah, but he peed in it. Instead of a diaper. I figure, if everyone's thrilled when he uses the potty, he'll catch on and start waiting to use it."

Regina nodded, then turned to Henry with an exaggerated grin.

"Well done, young man."

Henry almost blushed. Emma laughed, and started to run the bath.

"You put him in there and watch him, I'll deal with the potty," she said.

Regina watched Henry like a hawk, secretly terrified he would slip and drown as he played around in the water. He loved the attention, splashing and giggling and introducing her to his ducks. He was so happy, his smile was so free.

I wish I could be like you, Regina whispered to him in her head. I wish I could stay with you. I wish I could stay here forever.

She jumped as she felt a hand between her shoulder blades.

"What's up, Princess?" Emma asked, kicking herself for being so brusque. Regina had seemed deep in thought; Emma had to sound like she was mocking her. She passed her a wet wipe.

"Nothing," Regina said, looking at the wipe. "What's this for?"

Emma smiled awkwardly. "To take your warpaint off. I can't take you seriously looking like that."

Regina let out a hollow laugh. "Oh. I forgot."

Emma tried to laugh too. "I once went out like this, Henry doesn't act any different. Thank God it was just to the grocery store and not to work or something."

Everything Emma said reminded Regina of how different they were. But the thing was, she was starting to see the reminders as good. She wanted different, she wanted this world, she wanted freedom to be who she was, to love who she chose. She didn't want to get married. She didn't want to be weak and powerless. When she had children, she wanted them to be like Henry, happy and silly and confident. And she wanted to change and bathe them herself, not pay some nursemaid to do it. She had hated her nursemaids (though they had probably been kinder to her than her mother would have been).

She was so close to saying it. She really was. But then Henry announced he was clean, and he had to be dried and changed and put to bed, and by the time that was done the moment hadn't just passed, it was ancient history. Not that Emma even knew there had been a moment.

Emma got the feeling there was a hell of a lot she didn't know. She was oblivious to Regina's current mood, but she knew there was a lot the "Princess" wasn't saying, a lot of fear and discomfort that the other woman might do well to voice. Emma groaned at herself. She had never been good at emotional conversations. She was more of a fight it out kind of girl. Or she had been, until Henry, and then she'd had Henry.

"We could watch a movie," she blurted out. Regina was sitting on the couch as if to go to bed, but it was still early and Emma wasn't ready to sleep. Not when Regina was right here, looking all cute and fresh faced and delectable in her red silky pyjamas.

"You have something here," Emma said suddenly, licking her finger and wiping a tiny smudge of lipstick (that might well have been a shadow) off the corner of Regina's mouth. Regina froze as Emma returned her hand to her lap, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, habit," Emma mumbled.

"I would like to watch a movie," Regina said. "Er… What is a movie?"

BREAK

A/N: Please review! Up next, movie night.