A/N: Another update for my favorite readers – I love you all! :) A million thanks once again to my charming and delightful beta-readers Hunnyfresh and Lupwned. And thank you so much for all the follows, favorites, and especially reviews! I am overwhelmed! Please enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own the characters or the town or anything.

They swayed together in the clock tower, lost in the moment and completely unaware of the Charmings and Henry below, looking up at the slowly moving silhouettes above, smiles on their faces for a job well done.

They swayed together for two songs and then three before Regina broke the silence. "Really, though Emma. How did you accomplish this? I was in here two weeks ago with the building inspector discussing the renovations and this whole building was a mess."

Emma looked at her and said, "Well, the dwarves have been helping me all week to clean up this area. That was the…um…other reason for the blindfold. The rest of the building is sort-of a mess, but I wanted the clock tower to be perfect. I know how much the town means to you, Regina. Other than Henry, I don't think you care about anything nearly as much as Storybrooke. I wanted you to be able to look out on the town you created."

Regina was unsure how to respond, even how to feel about this. Emma was quite correct that other than Henry, Storybrooke was the one thing she loved. Still, she felt strange about the idea that Emma so easily accepted that she had "created the town". It was a brutal reminder of the curse, something Regina had been trying desperately to leave behind. She sighed as she reminded herself that Emma's intention had been good.

Emma had noticed her tense as they continued to stand with their arms wrapped around each other, stilling their previous movement. She watched Regina's face as a complex flurry of emotions passed over it before the brunette sighed and gave Emma a tight smile.

"Thank you, Emma. This has been a truly lovely evening."

"Thank you for being so…willing to go along with everything. I really wanted it to be special."

"It was."

Emma heard the past tense and understood their evening to be at an end. She released Regina and walked to the table, holding out Regina's coat for her to slip her arms into. She pulled on her own coat, blew out the candles, and turned off the space heaters. The strings of Christmas lights she left lit as she joined Regina in climbing down the spiral staircase. As they rode down the elevator together, they exchanged a shy smile, neither sure how to proceed now that the evening was ending. When they reached the ground floor, Emma extended her hand in a gesture to say after you.

Regina saw that indeed, the ground floor looked just as it had when she visited. Emma opened the door to the street and stopped to lock up the library before walking toward her bug, opening the passenger door and looking expectantly at Regina.

"My house is a block away; I think I can walk home."

Emma merely smiled and shook her head, "This is a full-service date, Madame Mayor, door to door service."

Regina returned her smile and took her seat in the bug. She was surprised to find the interior to be spotless and an orchid matching those from the table in the dashboard vase. She found herself unable to stop smiling at the miniscule details that had been planned for the evening. It truly was remarkable. She gazed in wonder as Emma took her seat and fastened her seat belt. She stared at her as they pulled away and drove the block to Regina's house. Halfway there, Emma felt the eyes on her and looked over. "What?"

"It's nothing, dear. I was just thinking that I never would have expected…"

"Yeah, me too," Emma said, her mouth lifting in a crooked grin. "It's not so bad, though, right?"

"No," Regina agreed softly, "It's not so bad."

When they pulled up in front of the mayor's mansion, Emma leapt out of the car to open the door for her again. She offered a hand to assist the mayor out of the car. Regina took it and was surprised when the sheriff did not let go of her hand once she got to her feet. Instead, Emma wrapped her fingers around it and led her to the door. She stopped and stood looking at Regina for a moment before dropping her gaze.

"Thank you, Regina."

"Why on Earth are you thanking me?"

Emma looked right at her with a bright smile, "For being so beautiful the rest of the night had to rise to the occasion."

Regina was shocked momentarily to hear something like that come from the sheriff and the only response she could muster was to lean forward and gently brush her lips against Emma's. She pulled back and looked at the blonde whose eyes were still closed, her lips slightly parted.

"Thank you, Emma. This was…well, nobody's ever done anything like that for me before. Emma, I…thank you."

Emma opened her eyes during this and grinned widely. She felt giddy. "You already said that," Emma said as her gaze dropped to Regina's lips and she leaned forward to press her lips more firmly against the full lips of the mayor. She was delighted when Regina responded, allowing her another kiss, and then another before putting her hand on Emma's shoulder and gently separating them.

"I meant it. But I think we should leave things here for tonight."

Emma smiled dizzily at her. She nodded and said, "Good night, Regina."

Regina watched her turn and walk down the path away from the house. Emma had just reached down to unlatch the gate when Regina called after her, "Emma!"

Emma spun around, confused.

Regina walked down the path until they were only a few feet away and said, "I paid twice what you did, right?"

"What?"

"In the auction, I paid twice what you did for our dates."

"More than twice," Emma nodded, deciding for the moment not to quibble over whether their first evening together could really be considered a date.

"Well, then by rights, I should get another date, right?"

Emma's jaw dropped, she stuttered, "Uh…another date?"

Regina stepped forward saying, "Well, it seems only fair, doesn't it?" She finished the question huskily and looked up from under her eyelashes at Emma, captivating the blonde with her eyes. She wrapped her fingers around Emma's wrist.

"Only fair."

Regina smirked for a moment at the sheriff's inability to speak. She lifted Emma's hand and placed a feather-light kiss on top before gently dropping her hand and saying, "Good. Next Saturday night. Come here. Eight o'clock," she turned and began to walk back up the path calling over her shoulder, "Don't be late."

"Wait…Regina!"

Regina turned to see the sheriff shuffling her feet nervously. She wouldn't meet her eyes as she said, "I…uh, can't come next Saturday."

Regina lifted an elegant eyebrow, "No?"

"No, I uh…I have other plans."

Regina felt a hot stab of anger in her belly that felt a bit like jealousy as she bit out, "Other plans?"

Emma blushed and looked skyward as she said quickly, "I have to work at the diner."

"What?"

"I agreed to work Saturdays for the next month for Ruby so she can have date nights with Belle. It was part of the deal for…you know, tonight?"

Regina suddenly realized the lengths Emma had gone to secure this evening. She must have spent a large portion of her savings at the auction to agree to work a second job for a month. She felt warmth spreading through her as she realized this meant something to Emma. She smiled broadly and said, "Are you free Friday evening?"

Emma nodded, still not meeting her eyes.

"Good. I'll see you at seven, Sheriff?" Emma rolled her eyes but then looked at Regina and realized she was using her title teasingly; Regina was flirting with her. The left side of her mouth quirked up as she visibly brightened.

"I'll bring the wine."

Regina smiled and walked up the porch. She turned to see the sheriff still standing there as she pushed the door open. "Good night, Emma."

Emma smiled blissfully, "Good night, Regina."

Regina smiled back and walked inside, turning on the light as she closed the door. Emma turned to walk back out to her car and sighed happily. She was going to have a second date with Regina Mills.

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Emma glided into her apartment feeling on cloud nine. She closed the door and fell back against it, closing her eyes and smiling. She looked up and saw Henry curled up on the couch, fast asleep.

"He tried to wait up for you," Snow whispered, coming in from her room with an afghan wrapped around her shoulders. "I didn't want to wake him up to move him."

Emma nodded, still smiling dopily.

"It went well, then?"

Emma nodded again, pushing away from the door and dropping her keys on the coffee table. She bent down and kissed Henry on his temple. He stirred and blinked his eyes a few times before saying, "Emma?"

She smiled and said, "Hey, kid."

He instantly shot up. "You're home! How'd it go? Did you kiss her?"

Snow's eyes widened and she scolded him, "Henry!" but then her face fell a bit and she looked over at Emma, "Did you?"

Emma smiled broadly and blushed and Snow covered her mouth and cried, "You did!"

Henry was jumping up and down. "It worked, it worked! Operation Stallion rules! You did it, you did it." He wrapped his arms around her waist, still wiggling excitedly.

"Calm down, kid. We're not picking out china patterns, we're just going on another date."

"You are?!" Snow smiled brightly and said, "Did you ask her or did she ask you?"

"She asked me."

Snow shook her head and smiled, "You really did it, Emma. I can't believe it."

"Gee, thanks, Ma."

Snow chuckled, "Not like that, she's just…very lucky."

Emma grinned and spontaneously threw her arms around her mother, hugging her tight and whispering, "So am I."

Henry was doing a cha-cha and singing, "Operation Stal-lion. Operation Stal-lion."

Emma and Snow laughed together and turned around saying in unison, "Henry - bed."

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Regina stood in front of her mirror and brushed out her hair. She smiled softly to herself as she thought over the evening. It was incredible how much her thoughts had changed over the week and the major turn they had taken tonight. Perhaps not her thoughts; perhaps her feelings had changed. She felt drawn to Emma in a way she had not been able to acknowledge before. Even before this past week, the sheriff had frequently been in her thoughts. They say the line between hate and love is thin. Love?

She looked at her own wide eyes for a moment before shaking her head and grabbing her toothpaste to brush her teeth. Obviously it was absurd to consider love, it was only an expression. She could not deny being attracted to Emma – she shivered as she thought of the intensity she felt when their lips pressed together. She rinsed her mouth and smiled at herself in the mirror. She could not remember the last time she felt like this.

And as soon as she thought this, she remembered. The heady feeling of immortality she'd experienced with Daniel. Her heart ached suddenly remembering the aftermath of this feeling when it ended. She looked at herself hard in the mirror. She wasn't sure she could risk that feeling again. She had to consider Henry now. The last time her heart broke, she had cared only for herself and had allowed her misery to take her to a dark place, but there was nobody else to give her pause.

It had hurt her deeply to kill her father, but she had felt so abandoned by him as a child as he ignored her bruises and enabled her abuser. She could never forgive that he had allowed her mother to pass her off to Leopold, who cared just as little for her.

But now if her heart were broken, if she became the Evil Queen again, she would disappoint Henry, maybe hurt him or cause him to be hurt by others. She could never live with herself if that happened. She suddenly felt afraid of the pull she felt toward the sheriff. She could not allow this to continue. She was startled to realize how much that thought hurt.

She leaned over the sink to wash her face. She simply could not allow it to continue. Her son's happiness meant more than her own. She would have to see the sheriff and explain. She felt her stomach flutter as she considered seeing the blonde. She was disturbed to find that she was excited as well as nervous and she rinsed her face, patting it dry. She looked intensely at the mirror and said, "Never again," before turning off the light and going to bed.

A/N: I know. Don't hate me, please!