AN: Fluff chapter here for the most part. No warnings. Enjoy!

Standard Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, which is a good thing else I might never get anything done. They are Adam and Eddie's. Please, guys, don't sue me!

"I wake up in the morning, and it comes back to you.

I breathe in I breathe out, it comes back to you.

I stare up at the ceiling, and it comes back to you." - "Permission" by Sixx A.M.

Chapter 2 – Best Laid Plans

Regina wakes with a groan, aching pleasantly in all the right places. Memories of the incredible night before come flooding back, eliciting a sleepy smile as she stretches against her dozing lover. The early morning light is only just filtering through the cracks in the door, so she is in no hurry to move. Currently of a mind to lounge in a few more hours, she snuggles back into the warmth that she misses so dearly when she is alone.

Red's body is a radiant source of heat that surpasses the best blankets gold can afford. Even the thick and luxurious fabrics she'd been afforded as Queen cannot compare to the cocoon of comfort that wraps around her when Red's lithe frame is so wonderfully close.

Heaving a thoroughly contented sigh, Regina nuzzles her cheek upon Red's bare chest, eyes sliding shut to drift back to sleep. She is half under the pull of drowsiness when a hand begins to gently rub the small of her back. Eyes cracking open, Regina tilts her head up to catch blurry green eyes regarding her with unfiltered happiness. Red's entire countenance is alight with a luminous adoration that causes Regina's chest to swell with emotions that are nearly uncontainable.

"'Morning, my plucky bandit," Red greets, a lazy smile stretched across her lips. Her voice is a welcome song to Regina's inclined ears.

Regina chuckles at the traditional morning greeting Red has adopted ever since they met. "Good morning, fairy wolfmother," she replies as she props herself slightly upon the elbow nestled between Red's right arm and ribs. When her disheveled but absolutely adorable werewolf's smile widens, Regina leans down to kiss her.

Red hums against Regina's lips as the kiss lingers, and after parting, she says, "I think we just broke the fairy code. Fraternization or some such nonsense...think I'll get in trouble like Nova did?"

The referenced story is one Red recounted to Regina once. It involves a fairy named Nova who dared to fall in love with a dwarf named Dreamy. The Blue Fairy, Rheul Ghorm, had forbidden the relationship and intervened to separate the couple. That interference, according to the tale, was largely responsible for Nova ending things with Dreamy, who in his sorrow became Grumpy, who in turn became one of the Queen's most trusted and vicious minions.

From Regina's perspective the story is an illustration as to how taboo romance can lead to disastrous consequences. To Red, however, it is an example of how love is too precious to be wasted even when facing insurmountable opposition. When Red told the story, she had been sending Regina an unspoken message, a vital clue meant to help Regina understand her outlook on life. Dreamy had given up on Nova because of the Blue Fairy's warnings, but Red, no matter what anyone said or did, was not Dreamy and would never give up, even should the Queen herself attempt to intervene.

Brushing a strand of hair out of Red's face, Regina places a second, more reverent kiss to her lips. "We broke that long ago, darling," she replies after two more kisses. "And while I can't say whether you'll get in trouble or not, you can rest assured that I – your dashing lady love – will advocate on your behalf."

"Dashing you say?" One of Red's perfectly arched brows raise as her fingers dance through Regina's dark locks. "If I recall correctly, when we met you were decidedly not. In fact, I seem to remember a certain heroic werewolf having to come to your rescue."

Regina smirks. "Well, I never said I was dashing when we met, now did I?" The quip elicits a warm, merry laugh from Red that stirs up happiness within Regina's breast.

"I concede that point," Red says, eye twinkling. "In which case, I thank you for your kindness, milady."

Rather than reply immediately, Regina slides atop her lover, arranging herself along the length of Red's torso as her weight settles between long and lean legs, which part receptively to wind over Regina's thighs and calves. Placing her elbows on either side of Red's shoulders, Regina threads her fingers together in the mass of her lover's dark hair underneath. With their naked bodies flush from nearly head to toe, she inches toward deliciously pink lips, and upon brushing them together, breathes out her response.

"De nada, Cariño." Regina is well aware how much Red loves it when she speaks in the native tongue of her father's people, so she puts a little extra spice into her pronunciation.

Uttering a prolonged groan, Red slides her hands down the length of Regina's back until they are gently cupping her bottom. As she secures their hips more tightly together, her eyes simmer with a bubbling mixture of lust and awe in the low light of room.

"Say something else."

Pulling back a fraction of an inch, Regina stares at the woman beneath her, awestruck for what seems like the thousandth time by her incredible beauty. It is difficult in that moment to reckon just how much she loves Red, especially considering how hard it had initially been to reconcile herself internally to such an intense, all-consuming emotion. But an opportunity has been presented that Regina cannot let slide, so she permits herself the freedom to surrender control for once.

Unbound from her typically iron grip, the words flow effortlessly from the most secret place within her heart.

"Tú eres perfecta y maravillosa, y te amo con todo mi corazón."

"Mmm," Red sighs as she hums, her eyes sliding shut. There is a goofy smile plastered across her lips that makes Regina inexplicably happy. "I have no idea what you just said but it sounded lovely."

Ducking her head back in, Regina replies, "Not half so lovely as you are," and then claims Red's lips once, twice, three times before changing the angle ever-so-slightly. Breathing in a deep breath through her nostrils, she parts her lips upon feeling Red's tongue brush against them and proceeds to swallow up the chest-deep moan that rattles through Red's frame. For the next several minutes, Regina leisurely devours her lover's mouth in a kiss that causes Red's toes to curl against the backs of her calves.

When Regina pulls away slightly, Red chases after her retreating lips, sliding one of her hands back up the planed length of Regina's back until reaching the nape of her neck. Once finding purchase in Regina's hair, she simultaneously pulls them even more closely together and initiates another kiss that is even more intense and probing.

Everything else fades into the background and time slips by without notice as they exchange a flurry of heated kisses, tongues swirling together as they express their mutual adoration through actions rather than words. These are the times Regina loves the most, when she and Red just lie abed kissing and cuddling and conversing until late in the morning, so caught up in each other that life outside of her little shack has ceased to warrant her attention.

Here with Red there is no Evil Queen hunting her, no bounty on her head, and no life and death struggle to eke out a pathetic existence. With Red there are no expectations beyond being true to herself, only absolute acceptance and an unwavering, unconditional love that provides Regina with the necessary strength to face tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. With Red, there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of hope, which is a sentiment from which Regina had previously believed herself forever divorced.

Without even realizing it Red has become her reason for living, superseding her bitter battle for survival and her righteous but seemingly never-ending endeavor to free the world of the Queen's oppression. Those mountainous crusades which had once motivated her no longer hold sway, having eroded away at a breathtaking pace until only dulled stumps remain of the colossi they once were. It is a startling revelation for Regina, and with it comes acceptance of a truth she has been struggling with for past few months: that she would rather live the rest of her life with Red than see the Queen's reign of terror ended. It is with that realization that Regina makes a decision that will change her life – and Red's by consequence – forever.

Living as she has been is no longer an option. Red deserves a better life than this. And no matter what she has to do or what sacrifices she has to make, Regina is determined to make that happen.

After reluctantly pulling away from her all-too alluring lover, chest heaving for breath, she says, "I have to tell you something that is going to change everything."

"What is it?" Red replies, panting along with Regina, though her eyes widen with fear. Regina interprets the expression immediately, knowing that Red's mind is hearkening back to that day she'd departed without receiving a goodbye, only this time she is afraid the separation will be permanent.

Smiling gently to relax her lover's unwarranted anxiety, Regina brushes her finger along the crest of Red's forehead, over perfectly arched brows, and down the smooth slope of her nose. She then brushes against swollen lips that she so loves to kiss and on across the perfectly curved length of Red's jaw.

"For the past several years I've been saving up just in case I needed to run," she answers, continuing to touch her lover's face with tender attention. "I almost have enough resources in place now to leave this realm behind and start a new life elsewhere." In carefully studying Red's face for reaction, Regina witnesses the exact moment that sentence registers via the barely concealed panic over takes her lover. To dispel it before it can gain any traction, Regina clarifies, "I'd like for you to come with me."

Looking half awed and half stricken with disbelief, Red exhales. "Are you serious?"

Regina nods, biting her bottom lip once. "As much as I've ever been. I want you to come away with me, Red."

Her nerves tingle with anticipation at Red's answer, but also with a fair amount of her own insecurity. Red has power over her that no other since Daniel has wielded, for now that Regina has given voice to her plans, it will be up to Red to decide whether to break her heart or make her the happiest woman on earth. And though she cannot help what are to her very legitimate feelings, she also knows how incredibly selfish it is to hang all responsibility for her happiness upon Red's shoulders.

Before responding, a pensive expression forms upon Red's lovely features. "Before I answer, can I ask you a question and you promise you won't get mad?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

Regina tilts her head slightly, not exactly certain of Red's meaning. "Why, what?"

"Why do you want me to go away with you?" Red elaborates, her emerald eyes insistently pleading for a truthful reason for so sudden and extreme a request. "Why now?"

Shifting back a little, Regina props up on her elbows. A frown mars her features, though it is not there due to Red's doubt, but because it is her fault they exist in the first place. She should said the words a long time ago. But there is, as they say, no time like the present, so she summons all of her bravery and releases them into the open.

"Because I love you."

Regina is proud that there is no hesitation when she speaks the words aloud for the first time, though she deflates immediately upon Red gasping as if she hadn't ever expected to hear them, which shames Regina deeply. "I'm sorry I haven't said it until now," she adds. "Please believe me when I tell you that it's not because I haven't felt that way. The truth is, I've loved you for a long time, I was just too afraid."

"What were you afraid of?" Red inquires, clearly not understanding why fear had been reason enough for Regina to refrain from confessing her love.

It is not difficult for Regina to understand why Red would fail to regard fear as a sufficient barrier to prevent free expression of her emotions. Having lived with it for years, and in a more literal way than Regina can imagine, fear to Red has become a normal state of being. Once she had confided in Regina that outside of the one week per month she spends in Sherwood, it is her constant companion.

The memory of that conversation flits through Regina's mind clear as the day they had it.

"To live with the Queen" Red had said, "is to live in constant terror. She rarely ever listens to reason, and sometimes she is cruel for the sake of her own enjoyment. Once she burned one of the bakers alive in his own over because her toast was too brown. Later on after I found out, I asked her why she did that. Know what she told me? 'I thought it'd be amusing to make toast out of him.' And then there is the fact that I can't ever tell when she will ask me to track down one of her enemies and drag them back to her kicking and screaming."

"If it's that bad, why do you stay?" Regina asked.

"I told you that I stay for the Snow I loved," Red replied, expression pinched as if she felt she was being judged.

"I'm not judging," Regina soothed. "I'm merely curious. Honoring a friendship, even one that has changed, is admirable, but I can't help but feel there is more to it."

Red had sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before responding. "There is, but it's complicated."

Regina smiled as she rubbed a circle on the small of Red's back. "That's okay, I have a long history with complicated."

After sharing a light chuckle, Red took a breath to compose herself, then said, "Well, for one, I can do more good from the inner circle. I've helped a lot of innocent people escape because I was able to forewarn them through my various contacts. And then there is David, James' brother. I didn't know him until Snow made him her slave, but he's a good man, one of the best I've ever met. I'd feel terrible abandoning him to his fate because I know Snow would take me leaving out on him."

"If he's as good a man as you say he is, he'd tell you how ridiculous that is," Regina counters. "He'd tell you save yourself." When Red starts to object, Regina cuts her off. "However, I know better than to ask that of you. Loyalty is one of your best characteristics."

And it is still is, which makes Regina wonder whether Red will be any more willing to leave now than she was then with the man most know only as Charming still firmly in Snow's clutches. But at the same time, Red's life is in greater peril simply because she loves the Queen's mortal enemy. With each subsequent visit, the risk of discovery by the Queen increases.

And yet however complicated and dangerous their relationship has made Red's life, Regina can never regret it. The passion they share far surpasses even the burning inferno of the sun at its highest peak in midsummer. Her need for Red eclipses all sense, so despite her many logical reasons for silence in the past, it has come time to tell the truth.

"Afraid of admitting it out loud because that makes it real," she answers as her thoughts come back full circle to Red's question. She glances up at her lover with palpable guilt. "If it's real, that means I have something to lose again, and I've lived on my own for so long and lost so much in the process that it's hard for me to take on that responsibility.

"I was also worried that if I openly admitted my feelings something would happen to you. I still am! I'm scared as hell that the Queen will find out that you've been seeing me and she'll punish you or worse: use you against me. You have to understand, Red, that if she captures you, I will have no choice but to capitulate to whatever she demands."

"Regina..." Red tone protests that assertion, and Regina knows it is not out of disbelief but rather a desire to extract a promise that cannot be made, that Regina never put herself in harm's way for her sake.

"No, darling," Regina interrupts. "I love you too much to let you suffer for my unwillingness to give the Queen what she wants. I would rather die a thousand deaths than know she's hurting you because I refused to turn myself in. You have to understand, that day you rescued me from the Queen's men, you did so much more than save my life. In truth, you've been saving me every single day since. I owe my happiness to you. You have made me happier than I ever believed I could be or deserved to be."

"You owe me nothing," Red insists with imploring eyes. "I saved you because it was the right thing to do. The right thing. No one should need a reward for doing the right thing. And while I never imagined I would fall in love with you, I did, and I'm so thankful. I risk my life daily by loving you but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I do it with my eyes wide open, Regina, 'cause that's how much I love you. Do you not understand, then, that I also would rather die than see you come to harm? I have spent more than a year protecting you, so I'll be damned if I let you throw your life away to save me!"

"But it's not your choice!" Regina exclaims, a tortured expression on her face. "It's mine. Besides, neither of us know what's going to happen, so it's useless to speculate. Nonetheless, if it comes to it, I will do what is necessary to save you. There's nothing you can do or say to change my mind."

In response, Red cups Regina's cheeks and pulls her down for a sweet kiss that is surprising considering how tense the conversation had become. "I know better than to fight you on this," she then says, a longsuffering smile in place, "so let's not waste any more time arguing. Okay? I'm just happy to know that you love me. I mean, I was pretty sure you did, but it's still nice to hear it out loud."

Regina winces apologetically. "As I said, I'm sorry it took so long,. I may seem strong on the outside but on the inside I'm weak. I'm not half the woman you are."

Red grins impishly at Regina's phrasing. "No, you're more like three quarters."

The eye roll that joke provokes from Regina is dramatic even by her own standards. She still chuckles, though, if only because Red's goofiness is a most endearing quality among a vast ocean of them.

"I'm not that short."

"You are pretty tiny, short-stuff," Red teases. "But I love you in spite of your vertical deficiency."

Regina narrows her eyes and playfully warns, "While I'm glad you do, you best watch it with the slights at my height since we both know I'm a better shot than you."

"Oh, yeah?" Red responds, rising up to the challenge as she always does. "It takes more than an arrow to stop me. That's not to mention that I can outrun you, and out-jump you, and also overpower you. I can sneak up on you, too, as evidenced by yesterday. So there." She then juts out her tongue childishly.

A sable eyebrow quirks up at the adolescent gesture. "Yes, but that is under the power of the wolf, dear. That's cheating."

Looking scandalized, Red gasps. "Are you calling me a cheater?"

"If the paw fits."

"Why, I have never been so disparaged in all my life!"

Red is mock pouting now, and it is far too adorable for Regina to resist. With a laugh, she removes one arm from beside Red's head to poke her lover in the ribs, which causes a bark of laughter. "You're young yet," she says around her own merriment, "but stick around because I can do much better than that."

Still bubbling with laughter, Red rolls her eyes in a distorted impression of Regina. "You sure do know how to woo a girl."

"I got you into my bed, didn't I?"

At that, Red scoffs harshly in mock affront and then forcefully swats Regina's ass. The loud smacking of flesh on flesh coincides with a pain that sets Regina growling. She hates when Red does that, which is why her provocative lover did it in the first place.

To be fair, though, she only hates it outside of sex. During sex, it can have quite the opposite effect so long the blows are applied sparingly and with the correct amount of force. Thankfully Red seems to have an instinctual knack for knowing when a good spanking will plummet Regina over the edge of rationality into rapturous completion.

"Don't even," is Red's verbal response to Regina's low growl, now looking thoroughly put out. "You deserved that. Why do you have be so mean to me? I ran ten leagues just to be with you and this is the thanks I get?"

Heaving a sigh, Regina reaches back to soothe her aching rear. The flesh is already warm and probably a vibrant shade of red about now. "I'm sorry my little pup," she repents in an exaggerated tone meant to mollify. "Would another kiss make it all better?"

Giving Regina a stern glare, Red drawls, "Maybe. Depends. You never did tell me why exactly you want me to run away with you."

"Yes, I did," Regina argues.

"However wonderful it is to hear, 'I love you' is not a reason to run away from our problems, Regina," Red counters, making too much sense. "Per your own admission you've loved me for months, so there must be something else driving this decision."

Always the intuitive girl, Regina thinks, proud of her lover's acumen. Out loud, she explains, "My love for you is my primary motivation, Red, no matter how inadequate a reason it may seem. Because I love you I want to spend my life with you, but we both know that can't happen here with the Queen hovering over us like an infinitely dark and perpetual cloud. If we're to be together as I desire and you deserve, we must journey elsewhere."

Red nibbles at her lip for a moment, running her long fingers through the hair at Regina's temple. "And where might that be?"

Settling herself back down atop Red's body as she was before, Regina answers, "Not long after I incurred the Queen's wrath, I wrote to my cousin in my father's kingdom seeking asylum for myself and my father. He had just recently ascended to the throne and was not alive during the time my mother tried to usurp my Grandfather and my family was banished. To my great surprise, he offered us both free passage through the border and protection in addition to a promise of restoring our ancestral lands and titles. Unfortunately, the Evil Queen murdered my father before we could flee. After that, I lost all desire to return to his homeland."

As Red takes in the information, her expression grows thoughtful. "What's changed?"

"Isn't it obvious, mi querida? You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Silly girl." Regina tugs lightly on Red's earlobe, which prompts a whine that she answers with a grin and a kiss. But then she turns serious once more as she begins to elaborate in depth to a raptly attentive brunette. "In the past seven months, I've come alive again. I fell madly in love with you. You have given me something to live for, something worth forsaking my fight with the Queen, something worth more than my pride. I'm ready to build a real life with you.

"Because of that, I sent my cousin another letter two months ago, updating him on my situation, and recently received word back. He gave me his word of honor that we would be welcomed, not only as citizens but as members of court. We won't have to hide our love anymore. We will be accepted, Red, as we are. We can marry there, you can gain a title all your own and be recognized as you deserve to be and I can be free to love you openly. I want all of those things. Don't you?"

"Yes!" cries Red emphatically. "I mean, of course I do, I just never imagined it would be possible. Most nobles aren't terribly fond of our kind. I mean, I've seen the Queen execute people for being like us."

Regina's face twists in displeasure at Red's phrasing. "Our kind...like us? Listen to yourself! That is exactly the kind of derogatory thought we don't have face there." Sighing, she smooths a hand down Red's cheek. "My cousin is a fair ruler and from every account a good man. We've been carefully corresponding ever since I sent him that first letter, and I've found him to be very progressive. He is not mired in the old, traditional ways of thinking. When I informed him of our love, he wrote that his own son is in a similar relationship and that he had abolished all laws forbidding such couplings from being recognized. You see, there we can just be two people who love each other and want to be together. There, we can just...be."

"I want that so much, it just..." Red trails off with a sigh. "It sounds too good to be true."

Regina gets the hesitance because even though she trusts her cousin's word, there is a vast difference between promises written in a letter and them being put into practice within a society. Which is why she'd employed her own means to confirm those promises.

"I'm willing to admit that," she says, "but wouldn't we be cowards if we didn't at least see for ourselves? And don't think I'm just taking his word, I'm far too cynical for that. I have contacts that assure me that I can take his word at face value. But beside all of that, I'm tired of hiding, Red, and I'm tired of fighting. I just want to retire to a quiet life with you, restore my family's name and lands and work with my cousin to build a kingdom worth living in. So, what do you say? Will you come with me?"

"Yes, Regina," Red breathes, tears in her eyes, "yes, yes, yes!"

"Are you sure?" Regina prods, needing for Red to be absolutely certain. "What about the good you do to protect people from the Queen? What about David?"

Red peers at Regina in confusion. "I just said yes, and you're trying to talk me out of it?"

"I'm not," Regina counters, "I just want you to be certain. It would tear me apart if we got there and you came to regret the decision.."

Red's expression softens upon hearing the reason behind Regina's questions. "I won't regret it, I promise," she says with a tender smile. "I talked to David about this last month. You were right. He told me I'd be a fool for passing up any opportunity to be happy."

As Regina returns Red's smile, a tide of joy washes away what was left of her apprehension. "Well, as long as you're sure."

"I am," Red asserts. "I would follow you to the ends of the earth."

"Luckily, we don't have to go that far."

Red hums, a glint forming in her eyes. "Well," she drawls, voice husky, "that's unfortunate, 'cause I was kinda hoping we could start our journey right now and see how far we get. With the way I'm feeling right now, I think I can take you to another plane of existence entirely."

Although Regina raises an onyx brow, she flushes with arousal that rushes straight to her belly. "Confident are we?" she teases, noting the way Red's eyes have dilated so that they appear nearly black. She shudders with anticipation.

Looking every bit the predator that she is, Red bares her teeth in a sultry yet dangerous smile. "You're about to find out." And then she pounces, consuming Regina's mouth in a fervent kiss as she presses all of her body weight down.

The delicious sensation of their flesh contacting over so much surface elicits a noise of satisfaction out of Regina. Red responds by nipping at Regina's lips with her teeth as she slides her hips to the side and maneuvers her leg atop Regina's aching core. Eyes rolling back in her head, Regina emits a lewd groan that Red chases with a warm moist mouth down the column of her neck and down to her chest before wantonly clamping upon Regina's breast. While maintaining eye contact, Red sucks, nibbles, pulls and laves at a hypersensitive nipple, a smug grin on her lips that does not relent until Regina is reduced to squirming beneath her.

Over the next hour, Red proves her capability to do just as she'd said, sending Regina into another world time and again. It is a favor Regina is all too happy to return. And only after they have exhausted themselves into a state of overly saturated bliss do they curl up together and fall back asleep.

Hours later, Regina wakes to a rumbling in her belly to find Red missing. For a moment she panics until she spots a torn piece of parchment stuck to the wall of her hovel with her favorite knife. Unconcerned with her nudity, she rises from the bed and crosses over to retrieve the note, which simply reads: "Gone to hunt, be back soon."

Fingering the neat, looping letters of Red's surprisingly elegant script, Regina smiles. She feels so elated that she could burst at what the future holds. After Daniel's death, she had thought herself incapable of love, and then after Robin left her, she'd called herself a fool for ever believing it was possible again. But quite against her better instincts, Red has awakened something once dormant inside her that has now come to full bloom, and she is so swept away by the feeling of being utterly, hopelessly in love that she can think of nothing else but a lifetime sharing laughter and joy and friendship and love with her sweet, beautiful, and altogether amazing werewolf.

Unfortunately for Regina that happiness does not last. For Red never returns.