The day ended up going really fast after that. Even when it was busy, Emma still found time to think about the gorgeous stranger, Regina. There was something about her that held Emma's full attention. Often times she didn't really know how to go about talking to new people, but after they had broken the ice Regina had turned out to be an easy person to talk to. It was rare to find people like that.

She often worked shorter days on Tuesdays, remnants from her days at the university when she had had a lot of studying to do. Her parents were intent on making sure the work wasn't the only thing in Emma's life even when it was hard to tear Emma away from her lions even on these rare short days.

Today was no different and David needed to escort her daughter to the dressing room door and after she was done getting her things, he took her to the gates. David pulled Emma into a hug which she happily accepted. She would never get tired of hugging her parents, no matter how old she was.

"Have a relaxing afternoon Emma, try and have some fun." David encouraged her.

Emma rolled her eyes goodheartedly and answered, pulling back from her dad. "I know how to have fun you know." in which David nodded, and pushed her daughter out of the gates. Emma poked her tongue out but waved at her dad happily before disappearing down the road.

Mary-Margaret appeared next to David and looked at the general direction where her daughter had just disappeared to. She took her husbands hand gently and whispered. "Did she go okay?"

"Well you know our Emma, I had to push her out of the gate." David laughed, but he was clearly proud of his daughters commitment to the zoo they all loved.

"She seemed to be in a really good mood today when she came in to drop the forms to the office. She was smiling really big." Mary-Margaret wondered out loud as they started to make their way back towards the office building.

"I think I know why." David was grinning "I was on my way to Food Storage and I thought I would stop in to pick her up, because her new baby food got in today as well. But as I was walking closer I saw her talking to this woman. She was all flustered, but she was also smiling so big as they were talking. I think she was a bit smitten with the lady."

"Oh my. Should we ask her about that?" Mary-Margaret wondered out loud, her tone warm and her eyes bright.

Emma had came out to them a good few years ago when she had briefly dated a girl she met at school. When she had first arrived at the Nolan's she had been constantly afraid they were gonna send her back. Emma had always thought she managed to hide her fears from her parents but the palpable fear had been easy to read from her face. And since the beginning they had made sure to show Emma that she was theirs, that they were gonna keep and love her no matter what. That feeling hadn't passed Emma's face since she was young but when she had come out to them, it had been as clear as a day on her face once more.

The thought that their child, even after all those years, was afraid that there was something that would make them give up on her was heartbreaking. Especially something as loving someone. Mary-Margaret remembered how they had pulled Emma into their arms and how their grown daughter had cried herself breathless. They had assured her that she would never ever have to be scared, they were gonna love her no matter who she was in love with. Emma told them stories about how some of her older siblings had suffered in the homes that weren't so happy about the foster kids sexuality. Some of the stories still haunted Mary-Margaret and she once again thanked whatever higher power there might be for bringing their daughter into their lives.

So Emma being completely smitten and awkward around a woman wasn't something that shocked them, but David reminded her of something. "I know we both wanna know more, but this is so new that I doubt Emma would appriciate us poking our noses into it. You know how private she is even when she does tell us most things. She will tell us when she is ready and if there even is something to tell."

"You are right, as always." Mary-Margaret smiled and pressed a kiss to her husbands cheek. They headed into her office to finish off some paperwork so they would get to go home on time, for once.

Emma was making her way away from the zoo. Instead of taking a bus like people often did, she decided to walk. The zoo wasn't in the middle of the city so there was a bit of a way to walk but she didn't terribly mind. She enjoyed the road ahead of her and the music that was blasting in her headphones. Her step felt light and her head was in the clouds.

She was replaying her conversation with Regina and the slightly flirtatious tone in the other woman's voice. Emma was into women, exclusively but she couldn't say that she was wordly experienced. She had been in few relationships, longest of them lasting for few years. After that she had steered away from them however, having happily busied herself with her remaining studies and later on working full time at the zoo. And that alone left her with very little time to meet anyone.

Regina had said that she hoped they would see each other again and Emma was woman enough to admit that she wanted that as well. But how would they when they knew next to nothing about each other.

Emma felt frustration slowly set in. She wanted to know were they gonna see each other again or was this one of those random encounters with strangers that she would eventually end up forgetting. Although she was quite sure she would never be able to forget Regina. She rolled her eyes so hard at herself. Tone down the gay, jesus Emma.

Her legs were walking her toward her favorite library like they had a mind of their own. She had planned on doing some research on a new study her mom had mentioned few days ago at dinner. Being at work full time left her with very little time to read, so these were the rare moments she was able to do that. She often didn't fancy going home to an empty house so on Tuesdays she often made her way to this library.

Walking in she waved at some of the employees, who she knew by name and they waved back just as happily. Someone once said that no one notices or knows you in big cities, that you are invisible, but Emma would happily tell them they were wrong. She hadn't paid much attention to people when she first started to come here by herself. At the time she had still been unsure of herself, slightly scared of her new parents sending her back so she had walked in quietly, headphones tightly over her ears. She had only come in to study after school but the women working there had got to know her subtly without her noticing. As years went by, Emma grew to be more open and the people had got to know her even better, this time in full interaction with the bubbly girl. Another reason why she enjoyed coming here. It felt safe and for a kid who had seen the horrors of the system, there could never be too many places to feel safe at.

She walked upstairs, hoping that her favorite spot by the window was still free. She was walking fast, liking to pretend that her pace made some difference. And like by some miracle, it was free yet again. She slid into the armchair by one of the massive windows and pulled her laptop from her bag. It didn't take her a long time to find the research and she got settled comfortably to read. She had no idea how much time had passed, before something moved in the corner of her eye that made her turn to check her surroundings.

The second floor of the library was divided into shelf's for children's books in the corner and a massive area for people who came in to read and study. There were tables, armchairs and sockets everywhere, soft lights and massive windows to bring in the natural lights. Plants were scattered around to bring a certain level of homey into the big space. It was a calm space and one of the rare places where people actually knew how to respect other peoples right to concentrate in quiet.

There were some kids walking past with their parents and Emma was sure that was what had caught her attention earlier. She was ready to turn back to her reading before she noticed something past the walking families. Or rather someone. It made her breath stop for a bit and she quickly turned her gaze down, in fear of the other person noticing.

Regina was reading something in one of the tables nearby. She had taken off her hat, revealing her perfectly curled hair without any signs of ever being pressed under a hat. She had folded her scarf next to her hat on the table and her coat was behind her on the back of the chair.

Emma tried not to stare, but she couldn't help but notice a blue silk shirt that fit the woman perfectly. Why did she think that everything about this woman was perfect was beyond her comprehension but she tried so hard to concentrate back on reading.

It was impossible now though. How had they ended up in the same library in the city this massive? Regina had mentioned something about living her childhood in the city, but somehow it seemed to be too big of a coincidence that they were here at the same time. And in the same room and so near each other. 'This is like one of those movies mom likes to watch' Emma thought and that made her smile.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice a voice calling her name or that a person had stopped next to her. What did get her attention however was a hand laid gently on her shoulder. That made Emma wildly whip her head to the side, so fast in fact that she was sure her neck was gonna absolutely murder her tomorrow.

She came face to face with the person she had been deep in thought thinking about. Chocolate brown eyes were staring back at her own and a smirk from earlier the day was yet again spread wide on the pink, plump lips.

"Didn't mean to startle you yet again... Emma." it seemed like Regina was taking her sweet ass time rolling Emma's name in her mouth before settling on the most attractive way of letting it out. Emma could feel how a rainbow shot out of her head and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at herself for what felt like the millionth time that day. She had never been one to have long overdrawn crushes or to spend too much time thinking about attractive people, but she had to admit Regina was an exception.

"You... you didn't startle me." it took Emma a second to gather her thoughts which made her curse herself in her mind.

That made the other woman laugh. She was clearly mindful of her volume though, as this was a library none the less. "Oh I'm sure I didn't. I'm just surprised you didn't snap your neck." the grin was back as she was looking down on Emma who was still sitting in the armchair.

Emma shot her a dirty look but that didn't waver Regina's grin one bit. What the woman did though was lay her clothes on the arm of one of the chairs and lower herself gracefully down. They were now sitting facing each other. Neither of them said anything for a while, both trying to find somewhere to set their eyes. It was slowly getting awkward again and Emma couldn't have that. Before she had any time to think through her words more she blurted out.

"Why are you here?"

That made Regina look up at her once more and give her a puzzled look. She lifted up a book as if to enforce her words. "Reading."

Emma realised how stupid she must have sounded and she tried again. "I know but why here?"

"This is a library is it not?" Regina was more and more confused, and the tiny head tilt she did made her look slightly like a black Labrador retriever. Emma could have facepalmed right then and there. Why couldn't she seem to form a simple sentence around this woman. She took a deep breath and took a second to form her sentence more carefully.

"I meant, why this library from all the libraries in the city? This isn't the most know library by any means, not even the seventh most known. How did you find it? Was this somewhere where you came as a child?" Emma had accepted that this question had no way to come out elegantly, so after she got it out she settled down, hoping Regina had understood her inquiry.

Regina smiled. There was something really endearing in the way that Emma rambled on, even when Regina normally couldn't deal with any sort of rambling and mumbling. But what really stopped her was Emma's reference to her childhood. She really appreciated the fact that Emma had listened her closely enough to her the small mention of her childhood spend in the city.

"Yes, this is a place of my childhood. This was something me and my father shared. He used to bring me here every weekend to read the books that were at the children's section. They still have a wonderful collection of children's books, from what I saw when I arrived." that made her smile fondly and look at the direction of the children's section that was in the corner of the massive room. "I enjoy it here, it's so peaceful and quiet. The views out of the windows are beautiful, the staff is always helpful and sweet. It's like a safe haven in the middle of the busy city. Today, it was conveniently on my way when I returned from the zoo. And since I wasn't really feeling the cleaning that was waiting for me at home, I stopped by." Regina smiled again, this time directly at Emma.

That made Emma smile as well. It seemed like this place had a special place in Regina's heart as well as it did on her own. That settled her mind, but she couldn't help but to be amazed how they met for the second time in the same day. She was thankful for it though.

"Fair enough." Emma said and leaned casually back on her armchair to get comfortable again. Regina notted gradually and opened her book again, her brown eyes moving slowly, carefully scanning the page in front of her. The blonde pulled her computer back on her lap again, finally feeling calm enough to finish reading the research.

For the next few hours neither of them said anything. Emma chanced a few secret looks towards the other woman only to find her fully focused in her book, side of her lip pulled tightly between her teeth in concentration. That made Emma smile warmly before turning back to her own reading again. What she didn't notice though were the just as secret looks the brunette woman was shooting from over the top of her book.

Emma's blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail like it had been at the zoo this morning, but Regina noted with delight that there were some curls escaping, forming a gentle frame for the pale face of the blonde. That made Regina shake her head slightly and look back down to her book. They had only just met, it was silly of her to think like this so soon. And how did she even know Emma was into girls. That made her look at Emma again, this time more intently and she could physically feel how her gaydar binged. Okay, it was likely Emma was into girls but jesus christ, they had only met yesterday. She needed to calm down.

That didn't make her subtly stare at Emma any less. There was something about this girl that intrigued her. Their dynamic was delicious and Emma was so awkward and so bold at the same time, that it was just plain adorable. And they had only met few days ago... And had total of two full conversations. Regina rolled her eyes. She sounded like a school girl with a crush. She had heard of movies that started like this, with two people constantly bumping into each other, she just never thought that would happening to her.

"Regina? Regina?" Emma was whispering, trying to get the other woman's attention. It was getting late and she had promised to be home for dinner. She had finished reading ages ago, but she didn't want to leave, so she had been surfing online for the better part of an hour but now she really had to go. The brunette seemed to be deep in her thought though, looking at the pages but her eyes weren't moving.

"Regina!" Emma said a bit louder, rousing the other woman from her musings. Brown eyes found green in an instant and Emma could feel herself becoming breathless. Regina didn't have to ask the question out loud, but only with the lift of her perfect eyebrow she wanted to know what was wrong.

"I have to go. I promised my parents I would be home for dinner." Emma sounded apologetic, putting her laptop into her bag before shrugging on her jacket and scarf. Regina quickly stood up, dropping her book into the armchair. She hadn't realised how late it had gotten and of course they had to leave at some point...

"Of course." she said and smiled lightly. "It was nice to see you again, Emma."

Emma couldn't get enough of the way Regina was saying her name. No one used another persons name as much as Regina did and it made her feel special. "It was nice to see you too. Maybe... Maybe we will see again?" Emma asked hopefully, proud of herself for managing to not make a complete fool of herself.

"I could come by the zoo tomorrow?" Regina suggested shyly. She was never this forward, what was going on? But the brilliant smile on Emma's face made it totally worth it.

"I'd really like that." Emma said before moving past the other woman with the slowest pace ever. Their eyes locked for a few moments, before Emma gave an awkward wave and disappeared behind the shelves.

Regina sat down, less gracefully than the last time and leaned back on the armchair. She covered her face with her hands but under them she was smiling so big. This was so unlike her, she usually didn't much care for people, but there was something... safe about Emma. She wanted to see her again, the blonde had pretty much occupied her mind since she had seen her yesterday at the zoo. Her mind was swirling out of control and she had no idea what was about to happen, but one thing she knew for sure.

It was time to go to see the lions again tomorrow.

/ hello, i hope you are enjoying the story so far! i'm trying to post a chapter a week since i have this all written up and ready to go! so yeap, chapter 4 will be up next week! thank you for reading, byeee!