Emma was beyond nervous as she pulled up to the mansion that Saturday night. The last time she had done this in order to take Regina out on a date, she hadn't been nervous like this. All she had been able to think about all week was going on this date with Regina and now that it was here, she thought she might pass out from nerves before it even started.

She was five minutes early, which she felt was an acceptable time. She got out of her car and approached the house. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved blue shirt. Regina had left where they were to go up to her in one of the short conversations they had this week. Emma had decided they should both keep it casual.

She rang the door bell and Regina promptly answered it.

"Hi," Emma said, immediately feeling like an idiot for not having something better to say.

"Good evening Miss Swan, shall we go."

"Um … yeah," Emma said moving out of the way to Regina could exit. Emma couldn't help but sneak a look at Regina's ass as she was locking the door. Thankfully she looked up before Regina caught that look. "You look really good."

Regina was wearing a pair of gray slacks with a white sweater. "Thank you," Regina responded, although she didn't say anything in regards to how Emma looked.

They walked to the car and Emma had the wherewithal to jog up ahead and open the door for Regina. Knowing Regina didn't care for her Bug, Emma borrowed her mother's car for the date. Once Regina was in, Emma hurried around to her side of the car and got in.

"I thought we would go to eat at that Italian place on Maple," Emma said. "Is that ok?"

"Yes, it's fine."

They were completely silent on the drive over which set Emma's nerves on fire. She parked the car at the restaurant but made no move to get out of the car – neither did Regina. Both women just sat there breathing.

"Do you not want to do this?" Emma asked, and she was surprised by the look of surprise on Regina's face when the brunette turned to look at her.

"Sorry, I am just … nervous."

"Yeah, me too."

More silence.

"Why are you nervous?" Emma asked.

"I don't know; why are you?"

Emma shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I feel this pressure to do this right because if I don't do it right then you aren't ever going to want to go on another date with me. And frankly I'm not sure why you agreed to go on the date in the first place because you said you didn't want to date me. What changed your mind?"

"Tink came to speak to me," Regina said. "She and I talked about this, about you and you using the fairy dust. She asked me if I wanted to use what little she had left in order to see if I would see you as my soul mate."

"And did you?" Emma asked after Regina paused for what seemed like an eternity to her. Regina wasn't even looking at her at this point but then she turned and faced her.

"I did not," Regina stated.

"Oh."

"It was tempting, and maybe if I had it would make this whole situation easier, but you need to understand that the concept of a soul mate – it's not something I am thrilled about exploring," Regina sighed. She bit her bottom lip for a moment in a move that Emma found adorable even the circumstances for it didn't seem to be favorable for her. "When Tink first came to me back in the Enchanted Forest and gave me the chance to meet my soul mate, I didn't take it. It would be simple to say I didn't do it because I was so focused on wanting revenge against Snow. That wasn't all of it though. You met my mother so you caught a small glimpse of how domineering she could be. I grew up with that – grew up with my mother trying to mould me into someone I wasn't. She took away the choice I made – the choice to be with Daniel. Then here was Tink showing me Robin, my supposed soul mate, and it just felt wrong. It felt like if I had walked in there and met him that I would again be giving up my choice and handing it over to fate, and from that moment on fate would make my choices. It's not what I wanted."

"So when I show up at your door proclaiming to be your soul mate, I made you feel like you had no choice," Emma said. "No wonder you didn't want to go out with me."

"Sorry," Regina said.

"Then what are you doing here now with me?" Emma asked.

"Having dinner if we ever get out of this car."

Emma smiled at her, and exited the vehicle, running around to open the door for Regina.

"Thank you," Regina said.

"You're welcome."

They sat down and ordered their food. Throughout dinner they didn't speak of soul mates or anything about them dating or having a relationship. They talked of other things – what Henry was like growing up, town matters and gossip and Emma told her some stories of what it was like when she was a bail bondswoman.

After dinner Emma drove her home thinking that dinner was pleasant and after they had gotten over that initial nervousness they were both able to be themselves.

"Do you want to come in for a drink?" Regina asked her.

"Is it the best apple cider I have ever tasted?" Emma said with a smirk.

"How about something stronger?"

Emma nodded and again went to open the car door for Regina. She felt more of her nerves creeping back in as they neared the house. From outward appearances she would say Regina seemed as calm as could be and had since they had entered the restaurant. Emma wondered if she was really that calm and collected or if Regina had merely perfected the look of it. Then she wondered if she should test Regina to find out for sure.

A small smile graced her lips and it wasn't just from getting another glimpse of Regina's ass as she unlocked the door.

They went into the main room and Regina invited Emma to take a seat while she went to get them their drinks. She came back in carrying two glasses of wine, giving one to Emma before taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

"Good wine," Emma said after taking a drink.

"It's good, but I find the wine of this world doesn't quite have the same strong flavoring of what we had back home."

Emma smiled a little wider.

"What?" Regina asked, noting the grin on her face.

"Nothing, I just like how casual you are when you speak about the Enchanted Forest. Not a lot of people in this town are like that. Some don't ever mention it like it was never a part of their lives, others like my parents make it sound like some sort of romantic getaway where nothing bad ever happened, but you, you talk about it with an ease that I really like. Especially since my two experiences there weren't the greatest."

"It had its flaws, it had its advantages, much like this world does," she said. "There are things about it that I miss and many things I do not."

"What do you miss about it?" Emma asked as she settled back into the couch.

Regina gave it some thought before speaking. "I miss the wide open patches of land. While my father had his homestead and we had the village nearby, there was a lot of green pastures as far as you could see. There was a wildness about it that I don't feel here. Growing up all I ever wanted to do was get on a horse and tear across those fields as fast as I dared push the horse. Then sometimes I could just as easily ride a slow clop, taking in everything around me."

"Was it safe for you to do that, go off on your own?"

"I never really thought about whether it was safe or not," Regina shrugged.

"But weren't you like royalty; didn't you have bodyguards?"

Regina laughed, "My father was a title holder yes, but in the great scheme of things he was minor nobility. Even those who had titles in the Enchanted Forest were sometimes impoverished. Now I am not saying I grew up in poverty, far from it, but we weren't sipping wine from golden goblets either."

"I really want to kiss you right now,"

"What?" Regina said, nearly dropping her wine glass.

Emma chuckled, yep she thought, calm and collected as a bit of an act for Regina. "I said I really want to kiss you right now."

She put her own wine glass down on the coffee table and scooted closer to Regina who had the cutest scared/confused look on her face that Emma had ever seen. She took Regina's wine glass and also set it down.

"Is it ok if I want to kiss you now?"

"Yes," Regina breathed out.

Emma placed her hand so she was holding Regina's neck with her thumb along her jaw line as she leaned in and kissed her.