"Yeah, I don't do creatures." Emma stood with her hands on her hips, staring up at the horse. "I'll walk."
"It's a long way," Belle pointed out as she brought a second horse out. It was becoming clearer and clearer that she really was the only servant in the castle.
Regina stepped up to the bigger of the two horses, reaching up to stroke the animal's neck. "Why don't we take just one?" she suggested, smiling as the horse immediately responded to her touch with affection. "I took riding lessons for almost ten years. You'll only have to hold on."
"Right," Emma said, recalling the case of achievements in Regina's room. "And when I fall?"
"You're not going to fall." Regina turned to fully face the blonde and give her a light kiss. "The faster we travel, the faster we can get out of this place."
Emma sighed, leaning in to demand another kiss. "If I do fall it's all on you."
"You saw all my trophies." Despite the size of the horse, Regina mounted it easily, leaving Emma gaping on the ground. "You're not going to fall."
Belle wished them luck and retreated to the stables with the other horse, while Regina rode up alongside a wooden fence. "Climb up over here. It'll be easier."
Emma reluctantly stepped up onto the rungs, thankful that Regina turned and took a firm hold of her arm. It was nowhere near as clean as the brunette's ascent, but with some coaxing Emma managed to get up on the animal. Regina pulled the blonde's arms around her waist.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking over her shoulder.
Emma kissed Regina's neck where the girl's ponytail exposed it. "I don't usually do things that scare me," she admitted. "I hate this."
"I'll start slow. Just close your eyes and get used to the motion."
Emma did close her eyes, tightening her embrace as the horse began to move. Regina made a small adjustment in her position, hoping not to throw the blonde off balance. But Emma stayed put, exhaling sharply against Regina's ear as the movement pushed their bodies closer together. "Maybe it's not so bad," she whispered.
"No?" Regina urged the horse slightly faster, and Emma opened her eyes and rested her chin on the brunette's shoulder.
"No." Emma gave Regina a squeeze before carefully moving one arm up to pull the elastic from Regina's hair and let it fall. She buried her face in the brown locks, reveling in the fact that Regina still smelled sweet after a night in a world with no indoor plumbing. She desperately wanted off the horse, but it wasn't fear that drove her now. She just wanted to hold the brunette from the front, to kiss her senseless, to revisit all the things they'd done last night and maybe more.
More than anything, Emma wanted to keep being brave, to lean forward and whisper words she'd never spoken in her life. But she wanted to look into Regina's eyes when she did it. If she was going to finally let herself love someone, she was damn well going to do it right.
"I really missed riding," Regina said, pulling Emma out of her thoughts again. "It's been a while."
"Why'd you quit? You're really good." Emma had no idea if this was true or not, but based on all the rewards she figured it was a fair guess.
"Remember last night when I said I didn't want to talk about my mom?"
Emma nuzzled Regina's neck. "I remember a lot of things about last night."
Regina couldn't help smiling at that, taking one hand from the reins and placing it over Emma's against her stomach. "My mom's way more invested in my love life than I ever was, and she was always pushing me to go out with just about any guy who came along. I went on a ton of dates, but I didn't have an actual long-term boyfriend until two years ago. Mother didn't particularly like him, but she was so happy that I'd managed to hold down a guy. We broke up and she started taking away my privileges."
"She just gets crazier." Emma brought her other arm to wrap around Regina completely. "Why'd you break up?"
Regina sighed and slowed the horse, stopping near a stream to give the animal a break. She slid down and then helped Emma dismount, hands on the blonde's hips to keep her steady.
"I don't know how you expect to get me back up there," Emma said, leaning in to finally claim that face-to-face kiss.
"We'll figure something out." Regina sat down with her back against a tree and Emma followed suit, as close to Regina as she could comfortably manage. "Do you really want to know about Daniel?"
Emma took Regina's hand between hers, sensing the brunette's discomfort. "Only if you want to talk about him."
"I've never told anyone," Regina admitted, leaning against Emma's shoulder.
"I can tell you something I've never told anyone," Emma offered, heart racing at the suggestion.
"I really liked him," Regina began, watching the horse instead of looking at Emma. "It was so nice to be close to somebody for once. He was the best friend I'd ever had." She chanced a look in the blonde's direction and got a reassuring smile in return. "I just never liked all the physical stuff, which I realize now…" She trailed off, gesturing to the pair of them with her free hand.
"Yeah," Emma said with a nod.
"But he liked it," she continued, the emotion rising in her voice. "And I wanted him to be happy, so I did the best I could. Until one night we took things way too far and I freaked and broke up with him on the spot."
Emma reached up to stroke Regina's hair, tucking the strands that were blocking her view of the other girl's face behind her ear. "You slept with him?"
Regina just squeezed her eyes shut, and Emma moved closer, tucking her arms lightly around the brunette. "It's not supposed to be like that," she whispered. "Not the first time. It's supposed to be special."
"Hey." Emma kissed Regina's cheek and waited until she could see those brown eyes again. "Mine wasn't so hot, either. But people put too much emphasis on the first time, and it's stupid. It shouldn't matter so much."
Regina kissed Emma hard, but the blonde pulled back sooner than expected. "What's wrong?"
"I've never said this to anyone before, Regina. Not once." Emma cupped Regina's face in her hands, their eyes locked. "I love you. And I know it's too soon to say that, but it's true. I've never met anyone like you."
Regina's confusion and sadness faded away at that, and she kissed Emma slowly this time, gradually, starting with just a brush of her lips and ending with Emma tugging at her hair and the sweep of tongues. "I love you, too."
Emma pulled Regina into her lap, holding her as tightly as possible. "Who cares about some stupid prophecy? Let's just stay right here forever."
"It's your parents, Emma," Regina pointed out, although she too seemed to have no great need to move on.
"They'll still be my parents tomorrow," Emma said before kissing Regina again and again.