Together.
They were holding hands, fingers entwined as specks of sunlight rested on the wooden table. Just two drinks between them; a cup of coffee and a mug of cocoa. Because things were back to normal, or so it seemed. But then normal was overrated.
Normal used to be finding the perfect person.
Now her normal was finding someone who was as broken as she, so that they could put each other back together. Piece by piece. Until their hearts mended and their souls curled up together.
"I can't believe we're here," Emma said softly, a smile tugging at her lips. Those emerald eyes rested on the older woman.
Regina smiled back, her gaze lowering bashfully. "Me neither."
"But it was possible," the younger woman squeezed the brunette's fingers. "To you."
She was perched on the edge of the chair, making every effort to keep their bodies as near as possible with a table between them.
"Well one of us had to have enough hope. For us both for what seemed like years to me." Regina inhaled deeply, her chest heaving. She reached for her cup of coffee with her free hand.
"But fairytales only happen when both persons have just enough hope." Emma could never grow tired of studying the flutter of the older woman's eyelashes, nor the way she smiled. Nor the way her skin was smooth, and flawless.
"I thought that I'd die without you loving me back," Regina said hoarsely, wondering how the hole in her heart could suddenly disappear; that awful empty feeling.
Emma's heart stopped for a while. Just the thought of it made her crack a little more. "Don't talk like that."
"I'm just stating the truth," the brunette shrugged. "That I thought I'd fall."
"And I'd always catch you," Emma said without skipping a beat. "What?" She levelled her eyes with brown ones when the latter widened. "I'm just stating the facts."
Both of them allowed enough time to drown in a gaze that was enacted and held. No one could come between them.
"Ready?" Emma said some time after when the Sunday afternoon sky had become splashed with orange and specks of blue.
By then, their cups had been drained, their hearts had been softened to slow beating. Breathing measured. And everything said between them had been words only expressed through love. Through honesty.
"Yes," Regina slowly glided her splayed fingers across the table. When their fingers entwined perfectly, it was only then when she exhaled. Knowing that at some point, everything buried deep inside was immediately released with the other woman's contact.
Both of them rose up, one gracefully and the other swinging a brown boot over the handle of the chair. Once they had detached themselves from that space, their footsteps led tentatively towards the door of the diner. And although they had been brave enough before, both of them were trembling lightly from nerves.
Just like that, Emma led the way, with Regina trailing behind, her brown eyes unblinking.
The door was pushed open, the tinkle of the bell signaled their arrival and at first, the occupants of the establishment did not all lift their eyes. Just Ruby and Granny did. The former gawked at the pair entering and the red and white checkered cloth between her fingers drifted to the floor.
Snow's face beamed from the corner as she cradled baby Neal and David swiveled his head around to consider the attention grabber. His immediate reaction was a slow smile whilst Whale's jaw dropped to the floor and Archie stared with wide eyes, his cup of tea frozen in midair.
"David, look," Snow was breathless, reaching for her husband's hand and squeezing. "My goodness, look at that."
"Pretty much called it," his charming smile reached her eyes.
Both of them grinned as the couple by the door lingered there.
"Moms," Henry was energetically heading their way, his hand already outstretched welcomingly. "Glad you're here."
Regina gripped Emma's arm tighter than ever as they stood there for everyone to witness their newfound bond. By just glancing at their fingers entwined, everyone developed an amount of certainty on the actuality of that bond.
The nearness. The reflections on days before when they were at each other's throats. Knowing that at some point, it was possible to believe in the settling of feuds. The putting aside of differences. And just maybe…maybe finally realizing that common grounds could be met around some turn. Maybe pieces could fit together when allowed.
"I've got to get used to this," Emma said as she sank into the seat opposite Henry and the brunette. Those eyes of hers avoided making contact with anyone else except the occupants at the table.
Regina said confidently, seeming to relax and gather up her composure faster than the younger woman. "You will.
"Gosh, it's nothing really," Henry assured his mom, face turned in her direction. He smiled. "Besides, you two make a really cute couple. Just saying."
The party of three gradually turned into a gathering of five as Snow and David joined them. Then Archie ended up pulling up a chair as he was invited by Snow. Ruby, of course edged nearer but was unsure after her hiccup with Emma. Still there remained slight tension between the two of them, although Regina smiled in her direction.
"I can't begin to express how happy I am about this," Snow trembled from excitement. Her arm was linked with David's. "Come to think of it, I haven't been this happy about a match involving the two of you before. Not with Neal. Nor Killian. Nor Robin," she turned to Regina and snatched up the older woman's free hand. "My heart is contented."
"Well I'm glad to hear that," Regina shook her head slightly whilst smiling.
"I hope you know that you're not going to be spared the father talk from me," David informed the older brunette with a twinkle in his eye. "Although we've known you for years, it's upon me to ask some questions."
"I'm so nervous," Regina teased him, "I cannot wait to answer them all."
The night progressed with snacks all around and champagne. As much as she wished to sip on some bourbon, the older woman settled for the bubbly refreshment.
Their eyes met often; brown with emerald ones. They almost found themselves becoming lost until the conversation snatched their minds back. And then it dawned upon the blonde that maybe after all this time, Henry had made her remain in that town but it was Regina who eventually gave her reasons to stay.
Always wanting to sway her walk down the right path. Staying to help her. Fighting to make sure that they never remained angry at each other. She had chased after the older woman like a lost puppy, only to find that no matter how mad they could be at each other, their hearts always returned home. And home was nothing else but the two of them falling in love.
"I actually had a good laugh that night," Snow was saying to Archie, "when the tide came in and soaked David instead of me. I was on the other side. The side further away from the water," she explained.
Regina was slipping deeper into a world where nothing else mattered when she continued to feel the tips of Emma's toes caressing between her calves. Their eyes remained connected. One smiled whilst the other smirked.
"And she wouldn't wake me up," David explained with enough surprise about his wife's behavior. "Instead, she left me there until I could literally feel in my dreams that I was drowning."
"I wanted to see him jump up," Snow explained, showing some teeth as she smiled widely. "And I wanted to see him strip off his clothes and allow the moonlight to bathe him."
Henry groaned, burying his face into his hands. "Here we go," he mumbled.
"You're going to have your stories someday," his grandmother informed him. "When you reflect on the moments you and Violet share together and those moments bring nothing but a smile to your face."
"What a family though," Archie seemed comfortable in his chair. "The connections between all of you, it's just…just remarkable. I'd say that your family is as unique as a family could ever get."
"You got that right," Emma pitched in, smiling. Her eyes never left brown ones as she glided her toes further up and felt warmth, enough to unsettle the older woman's composure.
Regina squirmed a little in her seat.
"What I can't recall though," Snow wouldn't put the topic to rest and her brows furrowed, "is seeing you and Regina sleeping in your spots that night."
David frowned as well, recollecting. He turned in his seat to face the older woman. "Yeah, where were you two?"
"Off making merry, I suppose?" Granny was working the books but she was attentive from behind the register on the counter. Her eyes sparkled.
"We were…" Emma tried to fit the pieces together, her memory a little cloudy. She stole a glance at Regina, "…looking for branches to make a fire."
Ruby snorted. She leant a hip onto the counter and continued to wipe the glasses, resting them neatly onto a tray. "Right."
"But Regina can use her magic to get a fire going," Snow pointed out.
"Well I remember I got her mad over…something," Emma explained, her eyes resting on the older woman. She could recall exactly what occurred but decided to leave out the details.
Regina had been upset over something quite ridiculous to the blonde at the time. But thinking back on it now, this unsettling behavior from the brunette came right after Emma had kissed Hook. The younger woman always carried around the feeling that Regina had been hidden in the trees when that kiss happened and she had seen everything.
"She was so mad at me, she didn't want to help me summon some branches," the blonde continued. "And my magic was so rusty back then."
"I made her work for it," Regina smirked, lifting her chin a little.
And she had savored how Emma stooped to scoop up those branches, carrying them all the way back by herself. Scowling. And she had refused to ignite the branches as well.
"Oh I see!" Snow exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "I always do the same thing with David. Every time he gets me upset –"
"She suddenly becomes disabled in many areas," her husband continued. He sighed.
Snow had no response, pride kicking in as she assumed the role of the most confident wife in the room.
"It's good to see that love has no boundaries in both worlds," Archie introduced a new topic. He collected another cup of tea from Ruby and smiled at her. "Knowing that the heart is open where…no judgment is passed. None at all."
Snow nodded.
"We can't," David decided to add in a soft tone. His eyes rested on his daughter who sat there with her gaze only reflecting admiration. "Not after we've known what it's like to fight for love. To stay in love. To be in love. It never comes easy. And that's why Snow and I always have that soppy line, that we'll always find each other."
"It's because that is what love is," Snow added. She linked her arm with David and smiled. "Always finding each other when you fall out, when you get angry, when you feel as if you're drifting apart."
Emma's eyes rested on Regina and she couldn't stop herself from falling deeper and deeper in love with the other woman.
It seemed as if seconds could matter more than days. Seconds where she slipped and fell and she couldn't stop herself from wanting more. From knowing more. From digging deeper. From wanting to kiss her.
Even after the party had been separated and the street lamps illuminated their path, she still dwelled on the passion developing inside of her. She still fed on the other woman's warmth and couldn't stay away. Inches felt like miles between them. When their hands weren't linked, she felt incomplete. And only a week ago, none of that troubled her.
She had been lost.
Regina's arm snaked around Emma's waist as they walked down Main Street by themselves. She couldn't digest all of it as yet. The feelings. All of it was so much. Even with the blonde's fingers snaking through her hair as her face was pulled nearer. As those soft lips lingered upon her cheek and stayed there.
"I love you," Emma whispered as the wind danced around buildings and rustled leaves in the trees. "It's never been easy for me to say those three words. Not so fast. But I think it's been a long time coming in your direction."
Tears welled up in Regina's eyes. She couldn't contain her emotions. Her composure was weakening.
"And I've always said those words to you in some other form," the blonde continued whilst they walked, "like saving you, running against time to save our world. With you next to me. Coming back here. Just because of you. I was so jealous of Robin," Emma emphasized on those words as if her heart was strained. "I remember the first time I heard that you two were together, I literally felt so cold inside because I thought that he couldn't be trusted. I thought that he would hurt you somehow. Like he wouldn't ever be good enough for you."
"You two never spoke as much…to each other," Regina's voice was so hoarse, she clung onto the other woman's arm. They crossed in front of Gold's shop. The light was still on inside.
"It's because for some odd reason, I didn't want to get to know him."
"Why?" the brunette asked anyway.
Emma shrugged. "Because I felt as if he was taking all the glory from you and –"
"You were jealous," Regina said with a small smile.
"Yeah…"
The younger woman tugged them both across the street, their heels clicking upon the cold road.
"So you're now reassessing all that you've felt and all that you've done in regards to me," Regina felt as if her heart was about to leap out from her chest. She was so overwhelmed.
"I didn't know that I was…in love with you," Emma confessed softly.
The brunette nodded. She understood. "And you kept asking yourself why you felt that way about me. So…conflicted."
"Why this and why that," the blonde agreed. "Why did I feel as if I had to try so hard to get you to like me? Why did it matter so much? Why did I even care about what you thought about me? Why did I keep running after you? It was always me trying to get us in tune together."
The wind rushed around them and swirled up leaves that had been scattered. A grey cat streaked across the road and delved into an alleyway.
"Do you think that we're soul mates?" Emma suddenly asked.
Regina couldn't breathe. She felt her chest tightening. Her heart was racing. Her thoughts lingering on something that had been said so many years ago. So many times that same thing had been debated on.
The younger woman felt how the woman within her grasp grew stiffer and she slowed their footsteps. Her face turned to consider paler cheeks. The brunette's hand had grown colder.
"What's wrong?" she could detect the worry in her tone and frowned at Regina's downcast brown eyes. "What did I say?"
"Nothing," the older woman lied, her mind resting on a memory that suddenly swirled up and wouldn't go away.
The Saviour.
The Evil Queen's undoing…
Their souls will never settle until they're at peace with each other.
She'll never be happy until she fills the void in her heart.
The Saviour will bring back the happy endings.
"Well," Emma decided to let go of the topic, her eyes focused forward again, "I guess this is where we live our lives together instead of going down different paths, huh."
"Yes," Regina swallowed hard. She was so sure of it. That Robin wasn't her soul mate, had never been. Because what she had felt for him had been nothing as strong compared to what she felt for Emma. Not even close.
"Will you promise to give me a kiss every morning before I leave for work?" the blonde tilted her head and smiled in her own humor.
"Because your parents do that every single day?" Regina turned her eyes to consider the other woman's blushing cheek.
"Yeah."
"But we're not even living together as yet."
Their hands found each other and their fingers entwined.
"Then when we are living together," Emma said a little crestfallen, already dreading the thought of sleeping alone.
"But apart from what they do," the brunette continued, "what would you like us to do that would create our own moments?"
For a while she didn't reply, merely pondering on their life, and where it was going to lead. Not two lives now but one life.
"I want us to meet in the Diner every morning before I head to work," Emma began, her chest fluttering as they walked. "And then you'll have your cup of coffee and I'll have my usual cocoa."
"Sounds like a plan," Regina said, her voice a little unsteady.
"And then just before we part for the day, we'll kiss for at least three seconds."
"Just three seconds?" The brunette smirked as their eyes met. "What about until we're breathless and then we pull apart to breathe again?"
She was caving in.
Emma leant in just like that. So suddenly that Regina couldn't brace herself. She wasn't fully prepared so that when their lips met, her body trembled. Her heart quaked. Those brown eyes fluttered close instantly and when the younger woman parted her lips, she allowed it. She allowed herself to be kissed slowly at first and then deeply.
Passion rippled through her, every part of her mind loosening up.
She was captivated by those warm hands caressing her cheeks, feeling the tears escaping. The past few days had been so riveting. So emotional for her, for both of them.
They parted from the kiss and lingered near still, breathless.
"Like that?" Emma whispered, her warm breath awakening the other woman's body even more.
Regina's weakened knees almost allowed her to fall into the other woman's arms.
She allowed their lips to touch just a little more. "Like that," she confirmed.
"Good, so you know now that I'm serious."
"I never doubted that," the brunette admitted. "But the real question is, what are you going to do about Hook?"
"Meh," Emma turned away, but reached out her right hand, urging the other woman to take it. They began to walk again, slowly.
"Meh?" Regina studied the other woman's cheek and awaited a little more clarity.
"Yeah, like, whatever. It's done." She was so sure of the results.
The older woman frowned. "Feel free to elaborate, my dear. I'm not leaving room to wonder."
"I mean," Emma bent her head a little and shrugged, "we had the talk. Things were said. There was a lot of yelling. That kind of thing. And then…"
The wind lifted blonde hair. Strands stuck to that grey sweater. Her fair skin was flushed, especially around her neck. And for some odd reason, her hands had become clammy. She was flustered. She was growing warmer. That much Regina recognized. The small changes. The little in betweens. The way those emerald eyes clouded.
"And then?"
Emma sighed. She walked a few more steps. "He stormed out after calling me a few things that kind of wounded me –"
"Like what?" Regina's blood was already boiling, to a point where her grip tightened on the other woman's hand.
"It doesn't matter," Emma said softly, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "It was just his opportunity to vent, I guess. Like he felt the need to let it all out. Especially after he realized that I had a thing for you for like ages. I think he knew…all along."
The brunette frowned. "How would he have known?"
"Simple things."
"Like?" Regina couldn't keep her eyes away from the other woman. She was curious. Eager to listen.
Emma inhaled deeply. "Well, for instance, I can't stop…talking about you. I never could. And it was annoying to him, especially when he'd want us to share a moment and I'd be like 'I have to go save Regina' or 'I have to find Regina' or 'hey Regina and I fell out and I need to patch things up'…so he kept feeling as if he was insignificant as compared to you."
"But technically, he is," the older woman stated.
Their eyes met. The blonde shook her head.
"Really? I knew you'd say that."
The brunette shrugged. Their footsteps led through the trees, a narrow path illuminated by lamps on posts that stood tall, even though the wind was picking up speed. Swaying the trees. And the waterside sparkled. The waves were rushing up. Just as her feelings were swelling.
"What did he call you?" she couldn't lay the matter to rest. Regina allowed herself to be tugged closer as the younger woman's arm wounded around her waist.
"Why do you want to know so much?"
"I just want to."
Emma sighed. Their boots crunched sand beneath them. "He called me a liar. A deceitful idiot. He said some day you're going to walk out on me because you're going to realize that I can't settle. Oh, and he also called me a lesbian."
Regina couldn't help but smile at that. "I'll admit that when I first met you, that's the first thing that came to mind."
The blonde gasped. "What the hell? Really?"
"Yes."
They both climbed the steps onto the wooden pier and felt the cold wind lick their faces. Brown eyes fluttered close along with emerald ones.
"I thought that you were exactly the kind of woman that I'd wish to sleep with. If I were gay," Regina confessed, her voice growing huskier.
"That's why you spiked my damn drink?" Emma was impressed. "So that you could take me to bed?"
"The possibility existed."
"You sly woman," the blonde was staring.
"Call me crazy but I've always found myself daydreaming about what it would be like to have you dominate me in between the sheets. I fantasized about letting go of all my control and handing the reins over to you."
"I'm…flattered," Emma was still taken aback by the bold statement.
"You ought to be," Regina took two steps forward and turned slowly to face the blonde. Her eyes glistened from tears. But not initiated from being sad. "Everyone will tell you that the Queen never allows anyone to take control of her. Unless of course, the negotiations involves you or Henry. Then I will do whatever it takes to save you both."
They gazed at each other for such a long time, nothing said between them. Nothing but thoughts. Racing thoughts and racing hearts.
She was drowning. She was falling and the wind was bouncing off of their aura and swirling around them.
"You know what I've realized after all this time?" Emma felt the inch of distance between them and hated it.
"What?" Regina's lips remained parted.
The blonde blinked slowly. "You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever met. And your body is gorgeous. And your boobs are so much more than mine. But I love it. I've always said to myself that if I ever dated a woman, I'd go for the boobs."
"You…idiot," Regina's chest heaved. She was smiling.
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