A Year In Review
The story starts in September by the way. This next chapter is also in September. I'll mention when it changes months. Flashbacks are italicized.
Chapter 2:
Storybrooke quickly settled back into a regular routine. People gathered in Granny's for their daily lunch, children went back to school, citizens returned to their jobs, and the Mayor's office continued to remind the Sheriff's station about rules, regulations, and paperwork. Emma Swan was swivelling in her chair at the Sheriff's station trying to figure out how she could improve on her paper airplane design when her cell phone rang.
"Hi, Sheriff's station, how can I help you?" asked the Emma. A rich, velvety voice that the blonde had frequently heard in the last few days came through on the line.
"Good afternoon Sheriff Swan. Am I correct in assuming that you still have not completed the paperwork that I gave you Monday at the town meeting?" replied the brunette in her mayoral tone.
"Jesus Regina, no I have not completed the paperwork that you called about on Tuesday, Wednesday and today. Thank you for reminding me…again." said Emma as she rolled her eyes. "You said at the meeting it wasn't due till Friday, so if you could stop nagging me I'll have it done for Friday like you asked."
" I find that the only way for you to be able to perform your duties correctly is having me remind you Miss Swan. I'm not upset though, I certainly wouldn't expect much from the daughter of two Charming idiots" said Regina with her usual sass. "Alright Madame Mayor, I'll have it done early on Friday because you asked so nicely" shot back Emma.
"Perfect, thank you so much Miss Swan," replied the brunette in her sickly sweet tone.
"Um, Regina, I was just wondering if maybe this Friday we could also have another magic lesson. Only if that's okay with you though" said the blonde shyly. Regina Mills thought back to last Friday when they had a previous magic lesson. The blonde had arrived promptly at the mayoral mansion at 3:00 with Henry in tow.
"Hello Miss Swan" said Regina when she answered the door.
"Hi, I uh brought Henry," replied the blonde.
"I hoped that you would Miss Swan." Regina turned to look at her son. "Hello Henry how was your day today?"
"It was so great Mom! We learned about how plants grow and how to care for them and I made some new friends who let me play soccer with them," replied the boy with a grin. "That sounds wonderful. Maybe sometime you could help me with my gardening." said Regina as she smiled and closed the door behind the blonde and her son.
"Henry, you may go start your homework. I set out crackers, dip and juice in the kitchen if you would like."
"Thanks Mom, and thanks Emma for picking me up" said Henry as he headed towards the kitchen.
"No problem kid!" called Emma after him. She turned to face the brunette. "So um are we gonna start?"
"Follow me." Regina beckoned for the other woman to follow her into the study. Regina went to the bookshelf and pulled a few books off the shelf. "The majority of my spell books and scrolls are in my vault but this should be enough to get you started.
"We're not going to levitate something?" asked the blonde with a pout.
"Magic is not a joke Miss Swan. I'm sure you are aware that all magic comes with a price. Before you can actually make anything happen you need to revise incantations and practice reading spells. You are already an idiot, and I do not really need an idiot who cannot control her magic running around my town" replied Regina. The two women went and sat down in the study. Emma read through the books while Regina completed paperwork.
"But Regina, why would I ever need to know the incantation for sharpening a pencil?" asked the blonde after a few minutes.
"No more questions Miss Swan, please just read," said the brunette as she looked up from the paper in front of her. A half hour passed in silence before Emma spoke up again. "An incantation for making people bark? That's weird."
"I think, Miss Swan, that we are done for today" said Regina as she stood up from her desk and walked over to the blonde.
"Alright, let me just say bye to Henry, and Ill be gone." Emma walked up the stairs to the boy's bedroom and then walked down a few minutes later. "Thanks for agreeing to this Regina, it was nice." said Emma as she went to go put on her boots.
"You're welcome Miss Swan."
"Bye Regina!" said Emma as she turned towards the door.
"Goodbye." Regina shut the door behind the blonde and made her way upstairs. She gently pushed the door open to her son's room to see him lying on his bed flipping through a comic book. "Hello Henry" said Regina as she went to go sit down beside him. Henry sat up and turned to face his mother.
"Hi Mom! How were the magic lessons."
"Miss Swan certainly isn't the most patient person in the world."
"Neither are you Mom," laughed Henry. Regina turned and gave him an eyebrow raise but replied: "No, you are right neither am I. I have carrots in the sink that need to be cut for the stew tonight. Would you like to help me?"
"Yeah sure" replied Henry as he closed his comic book and stood up. Do you think we could have hot chocolate after supper?" asked her son with a cheeky grin. "Yes, Henry that's fine," said Regina as she laughed and followed her son downstairs.
"I suppose Miss Swan if you would like to come over next Friday again at 3:00 you may" said Regina as she answered the blonde's question.
'Yeah that sounds great Regina!" See you Friday!" said Emma as she hung up the phone. The blonde is surprised at the Mayor's politeness but she's not complaining, she gets to spend a lot more time with her son and Regina isn't trying to run her out of town so that's a plus.
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The next Friday, Regina Mills heard Emma Swan's car pull up to her house at a quarter to 3. She looked out of the window beside the door and watched the blonde and her son laughing over something. A few minutes later the pair got out and walked up to the house. Regina opened the door to greet them.
"Hello Henry! How are you?" asked Regina.
"Great! Emma was just showing me her impression of Darth Vader," said Henry with a laugh as he went to go give his brunette mother a hug.
"What a wonderful skill, Miss Swan" said Regina as she looked at Emma.
"I have others," said the blonde with a smirk.
"I'm sure you do. Being an idiot is probably your most prominent skill though" replied Regina as she turned to face Henry.
"Henry, your snack is in the kitchen..."
"Yep! Thanks Mom and bye Emma!" said Henry as he ran off towards the kitchen.
"Kid's excited about crackers?" remarked Emma.
"It's apple slices and peanut butter today. Unlike you I like to have variety in mine and my son's diet."
"You're giving him apples? You don't have the best track record with them Madame Mayor." Regina rolled her eyes. "And you don't have the best track record with families but you managed perfectly fine. "
"I'm going to take that as a compliment" said Emma with a grin. Regina waved her hand around herself and the blonde, and as the purple smoke disappeared they found themselves in Regina's vault.
"Today we will be learning more basic spells. Do not touch anything " said the brunette as she went to go walk towards a trunk. "How am I supposed to learn magic if I cant touch anything" asked the blonde as she trailed behind.
"The same way I did with Rumple. We are going to create a solid foundation and then build your skills from the ground up. Regina turned around to find Emma toying with some magical item: "I said don't touch anything." The blonde gave a sigh and set the object down. The older woman pulled out a spell book and gave it to Emma.
"What language is this? Spanish?"
"We're not making tapas, we're making magic." said Regina as she rolled her eyes. 'Its elfish…or half-elfish."
"I can't do this! Is this what Rumple taught you? Think back to your training what other methods did he use?"
"Rumple was a bully. He didn't suffer fools and he certainly didn't coddle his students. And if he tried to teach you how to swim and you couldn't you drowned" retorted the brunette with an exasperated glare.
"Drown?"
Regina looked at Emma before replying 'that's it!"
"That's what?" questioned the blonde. Regina gave a smile and they were once again enveloped in purple smoke. When it cleared Emma found herself on the middle of a rickety rope bridge that was hanging over a ravine.
"What the hell are you doing!" asked the blonde as the bridge began to sway.
"Teaching you how two swim" responded the brunette with a smirk.
"Are you out of your mind!"
"Every time you have used your magic or exhibited your power its been spurred by your instincts. So today, we're going to push those instincts, until you master them"
"A little reading doesn't sound so bad now," replied the blonde as the looked down at the pit of the ravine.
"You can stop me," said Regina as she raised an eyebrow.
"Stop you from what?"
"This" The brunette waved her hand and suddenly pieces of the bridge started breaking off, and the ropes began to sway even more.
"What the hell are you doing!" screamed the blonde.
"Making the bridge collapse." replied Regina with another smirk. "You can either stop it or die." The planks of the bridge broke away again and Emma found herself hanging on the only the ropes on either side.
"Regina enough! Stop this!"
"No you stop it! No more hand holding! You have to do this. Reach into your gut. You know you can do this. Its inside you Emma. Save the bridge, save yourself." Just after Regina said those last words the frayed ropes gave way and Emma Swan fell to the bottom of the ravine. Regina's breath caught in her throat and she looked down with a horrified look on her face before she saw the blonde float up on what looked like a pile of the bridge pieces thrown together in one big ball.
"Did I just do that?" asked Emma as she stepped the ground beside Regina.
"Yes, when all I wanted was for you to retie the rope."
"Its like you said, instinct. Why are you pissed? I did it. Why does it matter how?"
Regina gave an aggravated sigh at the blond before replying " You think I'm mad because you didn't listen to me? I'm mad because look at all this potential inside you and you've been wasting it." Emma looked at the brunette with wide eyes. "You think I have potential?
"Yes I do. You're a very strong and capable woman. You have to become confident in your abilities if you want to master them though. " said Regina as she waved her hand and the pair arrived back at the mayoral mansion.
"Thank you Regina" said the blonde as she smiled. Regina gave a small smile in return before replying " I think we should leave it at that for today. I will see you next Friday?"
"As long as there are no rope bridges, yeah that sounds great."
"I don't make any promises Miss Swan. "
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Bye Regina!"
"Bye Miss Swan." Emma shut the door behind her and walked up to her bug and unlocked it. She sat down and looked back at the mansion from her window. Regina had pushed her today, and she hadn't been prepared but then again nobody had ever pushed or encouraged her for anything. Regina had even said that she had potential, which was the first time someone had said that to her. The blonde took out her keys, put them into the ignition, and drove off with a smile on her face.
Sorry this took so long to upload. I just had to put the bridge scene in because it's one of my favourite SwanQueen scenes. Reviews are always greatly appreciated. Happy Reading!
