Thanks for reading!
"That cannot possibly be Tinkerbell," Emma said as she and Regina walked into the great hall of the castle. The fairy was in an animated conversation with Frederick, Abigail's Prince Consort, and she was grinning like she had been ever since she got the fairy dust. "Haven't you seen the movie? Tinkerbell's a total bitch."
Tink saw them and gave a little wave, her face lighting up even more at the sight of her charge, and Regina beamed back at her. Sex had Regina a bit giddy, and Tink was the only friend she had here. She was the only option if the brunette wanted to tell someone about what she'd done in the past hour.
She really, desperately, wanted to tell somebody, unlike the silence she'd kept after sleeping with Daniel. That had felt like a mistake, but being with Emma was every kind of right.
"Tink is very sweet," Regina said, still smiling.
Emma was decidedly not smiling, keeping her eyes on the fairy's every move.
Regina glanced at the girl beside her. "What's wrong?" Maybe Emma hadn't felt it like she had. Maybe Regina had done something wrong, or not done something. But Emma had looked just as happy as Regina did while they cuddled up in bed together and even when they'd walked into this room. Until Regina had pointed out her fairy godmother. "Are you jealous?"
Emma turned back towards her girlfriend, blushing at being caught. "She's looking at you like nothing else in the world matters."
"That's her job," Regina pointed out. "I'm her job, and she helped me get to you and she's proud of herself."
Emma shrugged sheepishly. "She's just really pretty, and obviously you have a thing for blondes."
Regina thought back to the conversation they'd had before ending up in bed, seeing the insecurity in Emma's eyes. "I told you I'm not letting you go," she whispered, leaning in to kiss Emma. "I'm not like everybody else. I'm not going to reject you, so please don't run." Another kiss, deeper and more confident. "I have a thing for you, Emma."
"I'm not letting you go either," Emma promised.
"I do like Tink, but she was a means to an end," Regina said, drawing back just slightly as she became aware that some of the eyes in the room were drifting towards their embrace. "You are the end."
"If she's Tinkerbell," Emma said, pushing back her insecurity and falling into humor, "where's Peter Pan?"
"Probably Neverland," Regina said, and they shared a smile, both relaxing into this new topic.
"Wow. You actually know that one?"
"Not if my mother could help it, but my class put on the play in fifth grade and she had no choice."
Emma tried to picture a fifth grade Regina, slipping her arm around the twelfth grade version. "Who were you?"
Regina went a little pink. "Well, it was an all-girls school." She ducked her head a bit. "I was Captain Hook."
"That's adorable." Emma tilted Regina's chin up and kissed her. "My little codfish. There'd better be pictures."
"I'm sure my parents have the video," Regina added. "I'll check when we go home."
"If," Emma said softly. "If we go home."
Emma still felt a slight pang of jealousy whenever Tinkerbell got too close to Regina, but she tried her best to talk herself out of it. The Queen of the Gold Kingdom sent the three off in a carriage, Emma and Regina sitting beside each other with the fairy across from them. She still looked giddy, and so did Regina. It was a smile Emma hadn't ever seen on Regina before, and she liked it.
It was because of her, Emma reminded herself. She leaned over to kiss Regina's cheek before turning her attention to Tink. "So does everyone have a fairy godmother? What's the deal?"
"Mostly those of noble birth," Tinkerbell answered, drawing her legs up onto the seat. "Since you are royalty, the Blue Fairy is probably yours."
"So what happens? I wish for a puppy and she shows up and gives me one?"
"The rules are that we can only grant wishes that are deeply felt and truly needed. Regina wanted to find you so badly that she called to me." Tink's smile faded. "Blue is more stingy than most."
"She controls the fairy dust," Regina recalled. "She's in charge or something?"
Tink nodded. "She is. And I'm sure she must be good at what she does to be so high ranking. I just don't trust her. She puts more stock in what she wishes than what her charges do. Last night, I'm sure you were wishing just as hard as Regina was, but she didn't respond because she didn't approve. I don't think she'd be happy about this arrangement."
Emma and Regina exchanged glances. "Great," Emma said. "Just like my last foster mom. And the foster home before that. They say they want me to be happy, but as soon as I look at a girl they don't want me anymore."
Regina ran a hand soothingly over Emma's back.
"Oh," Tink said, realizing what Emma meant. "Not like that. I'm sure she has strong opinions on women being together, but she knows better than to argue with true love. She's just always been close with the rulers of the White Kingdom, and she hates Regina's mother. She wouldn't want any relationship between the members of your families."
"That's bullshit," Emma said, and Regina trailed her hand down the blonde's arm until their fingers linked. "Regina is nothing like her mom and I barely even know my family."
Tink shrugged. "That's Blue for you. Be wary if you have any dealings with her."
"Can I trade and have you instead?" Emma asked. Regina smiled at them getting along, giving Emma's hand a squeeze.
"Besides the fact that trading is impossible, I'm still on probation," Tink said. "I can only work with Regina."
Tinkerbell had explained most of the terms of her probation before Emma dozed off, tired from a night of hardly any sleep, and nestled into Regina's arms.
"Can I wish things for her?" Regina asked once Emma was fully asleep.
Tink thought for a moment. "I suppose, if you want something as deeply as she does."
When they arrived in the White Kingdom, both queen and king were waiting for them. Regina followed Emma out, immediately seeing the awkward tension. Snow White and Charming were standing a good distance apart, waiting in silence. Snow hurried to Emma and hugged her, and Regina saw the blonde go tense at the contact.
All of that she'd expected, but not that Snow would turn to her next and give her a hug as well. "It's wonderful to meet you, Regina," she said when she pulled back, keeping Regina's hands in hers. "It's an honor to meet the girl Emma cares about so much."
"Thank you." When Regina turned, Emma was getting an even more awkward embrace from her father.
"I'm glad to see you're well," Charming said stiffly when his eyes met Regina's. She eyed him warily, still not sure she trusted him.
Dinner was an equally awkward affair. Snow and Charming sat at opposite ends of the table, not speaking to each other and not making eye contact (although Regina would often catch one sneaking looks at the other). Across from Regina, Emma was similarly not talking, focusing almost entirely on her plate. Regina found herself leading the conversation, asking about the histories and customs of the two kingdoms and answering in kind about her own realm. Emma smiled at her across the table, both grateful and apologetic.
"She's lovely," Snow told Emma, pulling her aside after dinner. "She'll be a great addition to the family."
Charming stepped out into the hall just then, turning around as soon as he saw his former love.
"What family?" Emma asked. She knew that it was cruel, but her parents hadn't even tried. They were too consumed with the past, and while Emma wasn't much of an expert on families, she was pretty sure that this wasn't how it was supposed to be. "If Regina wasn't here, we'd all just be sitting around not talking to each other. Is that the family you want?"
Charming turned back, looking pointedly at Snow. "The family I want was ruined years ago."
"We love you," Snow promised.
Emma sighed, heading upstairs to find Regina. Snow and Charming stood in silence yet again, until they glanced at each other and both started talking at once. "I don't know—" "She's not—"
Charming gestured for Snow to continue. "I don't know how to talk to her. Every time I try, she blocks me out."
"She's stubborn like both of us," Charming said with a loving smile directed down the corridor Emma had taken. "She needs time. Remember how long it took us to come around to each other?"
"I seem to recall you tackling me to the ground," Snow pointed out.
"And I seem to recall you hitting me over the head with a rock."
They drifted closer to each other as they reminisced, hardly noticing. "We've been waiting eighteen years for this," Snow pointed out softly. "And now more waiting."
"More waiting," Charming echoed as their fingers brushed each other.
Regina had been sent upstairs with a maid serving as tour guide, and although it took some convincing, the maid had accepted that she didn't need any more help and left. She put on the nightgown that was left for her, taking off everything underneath and sitting on the bed to wait for Emma to inevitably show up.
"Thank you," Emma said as soon as she'd closed the door and locked it. "That would have been even more of a train wreck without you."
Regina held out her hands, and Emma sank onto the bed beside her, feeling one hand at her waist and one stroking her hair. "It will get better," she promised. "Not between your parents, perhaps, but between you and them."
"You don't know that."
"That was more comfortable than most dinners with my mother," Regina pointed out. "If it was me bringing you home…"
"Your mom would poison me?" Emma asked, unable to help smiling.
"Oh, no, nothing that obvious. Just little snide remarks that build up until you can't take anymore." Regina sighed, and now it was Emma who held her to give support. "My father, though, would love you. Mother might not let him talk much, but he likes anything that makes me happy."
Emma kissed Regina deeply, that kiss and the ones that followed long enough to leave any discussion of parents far behind. "I'll make you happy tonight," she offered, smiling against Regina's skin as she trailed kisses down her neck.
"Here?" Regina had been too caught up that morning to question their location, but she knew all too well about wanting to hide things from parents. "Your mother did give us separate rooms."
Emma nipped at Regina's collarbone. "Fuck that."
Regina tilted her head back, glad that from this angle Emma couldn't see her ever-reddening face. "There's something better you could fuck." Regina had never used that word before, and while she was blushing furiously it felt good on her tongue.
Emma tipped Regina onto her back against the bed and crawled over her, eyes gleaming in a way that definitely made the forbidden word worth it. "Say that again."
Still blushing, Regina shook her head. "You'll have to earn it."
Emma took Regina's hands in hers and pinned them to the pillow over Regina's head, fingers intertwining. "Say it," she said, one knee planted in just the right spot between Regina's legs and hitting her bare center.
With Emma looking at her like that, both predatory and loving, Regina felt sexier than she'd ever felt in her life. She leaned up as best she could in her position, bringing her lips close to Emma's ear. "Fuck me."