The next morning started off pretty similarly except Mary-Margaret insisted they all eat breakfast at home instead of at the zoo. The Nolan's got a early start on their day anyway and were at the zoo just after 7 am. Emma knew she was in no rush today and she took her time enjoying the company of her animals. She even moved Bianca to a smaller cage, so she could go in herself. It was something that she had done with all her baby lions. It was a human contact what the animals could not get in the wild, but since Emma knew that these lions would always be living in captivity, being close to humans was beneficial to them. Even when Emma loved animals, she was not a huge fan of zoos, and neither were her parents. They had taught her early on how much happier these animals would be in the wild, back in their natural habitat.

What was special about the Nolan's zoo however was the fact that they took in injured and misplaced animals that had gone through acts of cruelty by humans. It was like rehab center kind of a thing, where the animals could heal and learn to trust people again and live a happy life. Emma had no doubt in her mind that every animal in the zoo was loved beyond anything. Each of them had their own caregiver who has specialized in them.

Emma spend her morning with Bianca before releasing her to spend more time with the other lions. She was well aware that she could not make Bianca her own cub because that would cause problems with the other lions in a long run.

She made her way out to go and get the food before her lion feeding. She was very pleased that no matter the day, her lions gathered a crowd of people. Emma loved her lions and she was proud of the work she had done with them since they were small. Emma Nolan wasn't one to be cocky about her accomplishments but even she could write this down on her book.

Making her way out of the maintenance door, she took a turn to the right to go and see her lions for a short while before her lunch. Leaning on the railing she opened her phone to see a text from Ruby. Reading through it she rolled her eyes. She knew she would regret making a promise.

Hey Ems, ask your parents can you come out with us on Friday? I know you hoped I would forget, but I didn't, HA! I'm expecting an answer this time as well and it better not be no!

Emma knew she had stood Ruby up more than once with evenings out. It was not that she didn't want to go, but she also couldn't say she felt awfully comfortable with drunken people around either. She knew it had something to do with early experiences in foster care, but these people were her friends. Emma also knew that when she would ask her parents permission for this night out they would literally give her an entire day off just to get ready. Her parents wanted only the best for her and Emma once again thanked whatever higher power that had placed her with the Nolan's.

Deep in thought Emma had not noticed that someone had joined her on the railing. Chocolate eyes were looking at her every once in a while, slowly studying her. It took a while for Emma to realize someone was watching her. She turned sharply to her left and was met with the same piercing brown eyes from yesterday. That surprised her enough for her to stumble back a few steps which caused her to lose her balance. Emma could feel her ass hit the ground and in seconds a deep red of embarrassment covered her face.

The brunette stranger let out a breathy giggle, that somehow made Emma's heart beat just that much faster. What was happening? Was she having a heart attack?

A hand was offered to help her up and Emma slowly took it, without looking at the woman in front of her. She was so embarrassed. After muttering a quick 'thank you', looking at her feet seemed to be appropriate thing to do. Neither of them said anything for a good few minutes. And then.

"I didn't mean to startle you." was offered in rich, deep voice with a hint of smile mixed in. Emma felt every word hit her body in the most appealing of ways, which only confused her further. She took a breath and chanced a look at the woman.

She was just as beautiful as she was the day before, with the same coat and beanie and gently curled hair framing her face. Emma had noticed the woman had brown eyes, but damn, seeing them up close was even better. Oh god, she had to get herself together.

"It's okay. I was... Deep in thought." Emma stammered a little, but decided to tackle this conversation head first. So what if the woman was the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on? She could still talk and act professional, because that's what she was. A professional. On lions granted, but that was beside the point.

"So it seemed." the woman smiled, revealing her white teeth. Emma shot a shy smile back. The silence that fell between them was getting slightly awkward and it seemed they both were very much aware of that since they started to break it at the same time.

"I -"

"Have you-"

They both laughed a little and Emma could feel herself getting more comfortable. She clearly wasn't the only one who was slightly nervous and that helped her greatly.

"You go ahead." Emma smiled and the brunette smiled back.

"Yes, well. I was gonna say that I'm terribly sorry if I did something wrong yesterday. You fled rather quickly." the brunette woman said, slipping her hands into her pockets.

Emma felt compelled to reassure the woman and put her mind at ease. She knew she was potentially gonna sound foolish, but in that moment it seemed like a lesser of two evils. "No, you didn't do anything. I was just... startled... I guess? I mean you were reading my favorite book and suddenly you were looking at me and you were so pretty and..." Emma started to ramble, brushing her fingers through her hair nervously, not noticing how beautifully the brunette was smiling at her. "And I'm really not that good at socializing, or as my friends say 'not a peoplesperson' and so, I ran." Emma somehow managed to finish her rant with another awkward laugh, hoping over hope she had somehow made the stranger feel better.

Lifting her gaze she was met with highly amused smirk and crossed arms. Emma was ready to defend herself but she didn't get any malicious vibes from the woman so she waited to see how things were gonna unfold.

"Not a peoplesperson huh?" was asked behind the smirk. "I think you are doing rather well, dear."

"Hey now, you should feel special, I normally don't do this well." Emma laughed, feeling the previous defensiveness vanish.

"I do." was said quietly and before Emma could ask for elaboration the brunette was asking a question. "What were you gonna ask me?"

Emma Nolan had one good, well served conversation starter that worked with absolutely anyone. Were it at work or somewhere else. Granted Emma hardly ever did anything besides work, so so far it had served her well and she had had many good conversations. She wasn't shy to use it now either.

"I was gonna ask have you ever seen lions before?"

Something behind the brunette's brown eyes lit up in that exact same moment Emma said the word 'lion' and the biggest smile made its way onto her face. Emma watching in utter amazement as this regal, put together, sophisticated woman was turning into a red cheeked, slightly vibrating ball of excitement before her very eyes. It made Emma think of some of the smaller kids that came to the zoo for the first time and how amazed and excited they were about absolutely everything.

"Oh yes I have." was a slightly breathy, but definitely eager answer. It was obvious that she was trying to tone down her own happiness and excitement which made Emma frown. No one should have to hide their source of happiness.

Now that they seemed to be on a familiar ground for both of them, Emma felt comfortable enough to ask a follow up question. "Where have you seen them before?"

"I have traveled a lot for my job and that has allowed me to visit several zoo's on my spare time. No matter how much time I have in a place, I always go for a few minutes, just to see the lions." the brunette couldn't hold down the smile that was waiting to break out. Her whole body seemed to soften, to calm down as she got more comfortable, more happy.

"That sounds so cool! I really love the lions too." Emma said, looking at her cats fondly. It felt nice to talk to someone who was just as excited about lions as she was. Many people loved lions sure, but only very few were able to hold up a full conversation about them.

"So I would have guessed, dear. I mean you do look after them." there was that smirk again. Emma rolled her eyes goodheartedly. She was suddenly dying to know more about this woman, and about the lions she had seen.

Emma had never really left her state, so she hadn't really had the chance to see other zoo's or their lions, not anything. There was the need for an adventure in her, the need to see the cities she had only heard stories of, but there had never been a right time. Her mother on the other hand was called away often to help struggling zoo's. There wasn't a time that Mary-Margaret Nolan returned without a story and photos to show. She often held these evenings to her staff where she shared the problems of their fellow zoos and how they were solved, in order to educate her professionals in case the same kind of situation ever arose later in life.

Mary-Margaret had promised that the next time she was called to go away, she would take Emma with her. It was time for her to learn the fine points of running a zoo, because as Mary-Margaret so dramatically put it, "it was gonna be hers one day".

"Is this the first time you have visited this zoo?" Emma asked, leaning on the railing, giving the woman her full attention.

"I visited a few times when I was younger, but today was my first time since my childhood. I moved here only a few days ago and after I was settled enough, I headed over. I have heard so many great things about this zoo over the years. It's one of the top ones in the country." there was nothing left of the nervousness they had before. It was almost like they were two friends catching up after not seeing each other for a while.

"Well, I do have to agree. It's really amazing here." Emma was smiling really big now. It was no secret that they were the best, but it was always nice to hear someone say it out loud.

There was gonna be another question, but it was stopped by the call noise of the walkie talkie. Emma held up a finger to ask for a second and the brunette notted. Emma snapped the walkie talkie off her belt and answered. "Yeah?"

"Emma, the food delivery just came from the warehouse, come and pick up your baby food." David was sounding chipper, that seemed to be a common thing for the Nolan couple. It was nearly impossible for anyone or anything to annoy them enough to cause a bad mood.

"I will be there in a second dad." Emma said to the walkie talkie, releasing the button. She checked the time and realised she should have been there good 15 minutes ago. It was surprising it had taken her dad this long to call her.

"Okay, kiddo. See you in a bit." and the walkie talkie rattled shut.

Emma placed it back on her belt and looked up at the brunette woman apologetically. The other woman just smiled. "I heard you have to go. It's okay, I don't want to keep you."

"Yeah, gotta start the feedings. It was nice meeting you though." Emma said and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She didn't want to go yet, the conversation had only just begun. They were strangers, but something small in Emma was hoping that they weren't. The other woman was a mystery to her, a mystery she desperately wanted to solve. But how did she go about asking her to meet again? What if she just-

"It was nice to meet you too. Maybe we will bump into each other again at some point." sly smirk was very much in place, like the woman knew what she was thinking. "I mean, I do love the lions and I'm currently not busy with work, so you might see me around..." was the gorgeous stranger flirting with her?

"I... I..." Emma stammered, desperately trying to sound cool and casual. "I would like that."

"Well in that case, see you soon. Em-ma." the brunette rolled her name in the most enticing manner and Emma felt slightly breathless. Breathing around this woman was turning out to be a full time job.

Emma was too busy being dumbstruck to notice the brunette had started to walk away. When she finally did, she yelled after her. "Hey, I don't even know your name!"

The woman turned and her dark curls whipped against her face and there was a soft smile on her face as she answered. "My name is Regina."