A/N: WOW! The reaction I've gotten to this fiction is amazing! Thank you all so much for reading and for your kind words.
Also, I'm sorry if the formatting is weird. Of course, this was originally a para and it's hard to convert it into Fanfiction without the formatting being like it is or taking out a bunch of stuff (which is never my first choice.)
Regina was slightly shocked to hear the princess call after her, slowing her horse's trot so Emma could catch up. "Yes?" She questioned, an honest puzzled expression upon her face. Her gaze locked with Emma's and the edges of her blood red lips curled lightly into a small smile.
"You're her aren't you… You're Regina, the one I've heard of… The supposed Evil Queen? I mean, you don't seem that Evil to me." Emma replied as her horse finally caught up to Regina's. "Please don't get me wrong, I-I just, I never thought I'd get to meet you. I'm excited actually to meet you." Emma added in sheepish tone, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red.
Regina blushed slightly and nodded. "Excited?" She repeated with a chuckle, her regal voice peaking through now that Emma knew who she was. "Why on earth would you be excited to meet me of all people?"
Emma blushed once more before looking at the Queen. "Well… I-I just. I've heard so much about you, so many things that I honestly didn't believe. I just can't see someone doing the things that people have said without a reason. Someone truly evil just doesn't exist, there is always good even if it's only a tiny bit." Emma replied in a cautious tone, her voice cracking somewhat. "I'm sorry, if I've offended you. I just, you don't seem like the person my mother has made you out to be." Emma added, slowly allowing her eyes to meet Regina's.
Regina smiled a bit more and shook her head. "You've far from offended me." She said in a light tone. "Quite the opposite. It's quite a while since I heard someone speak as such about me. It's a nice change of pace." The evil queen chuckled. "Thank you for all you said. W-Would you ... care to join me for a glass of wine?" She motioned to the large palace ahead of them.
"I-I don't know if I should, I mean… My mother, she wouldn't be to pleased but then again… I'm not one for following my mother's rules. So… Actually, I will take you up on your offer." Emma replied with a bright smile. "Might I ask why it's called the Dark Castle? I don't see how anything could seem dark around you…" Emma added in an innocent bit of flirtation, unknowingly so.
Regina blushed and led Emma while both still on their horses to the royal stable. "Well, it's where people died and where the now 'Evil' queen lives, so it's associated with darkness." She said, dismounting her horse and handing the reins to the guard. She extended her hand to the princess. "Come with me."
Emma slid off her horse and allowed the guard to take her horse as well before taking Regina's hand and allowing the Queen to lead her up to the castle.
Regina led Emma through the castle, feeling like a teenager with a secret beau in the house. "So Emma ... your .. mother has told you about me." She chuckled, looking up at the beautiful slightly younger woman.
"Y-yes… She's spoken of you for six years, each story more horrifying than the last. It's like she wants me to hate you, but I-I can't. I can't believe that someone, anyone could be completely evil. I have to believe that there is good in everyone, otherwise… I don't know what I would do. A girl has to have something to believe in, right?" Emma replied, walking with the Queen further into the castle. "I always told myself that if I were to ever meet you, I'd ask you about the events… From your point of view, I want to know what really happened, not just what everyone wants to believe. I mean, it's your life… Not theirs." Emma added, though she felt as though she were crossing a line by doing so.
Regina couldn't help but smile lightly as Emma spoke. Her words were ones she had never heard spoken about her before. Never. She stopped just outside her private garden, somewhere no one was allowed besides the Queen herself. "It's ... It's a very long story Emma. One I will tell you, but not on this day." She sighed with a small motion of her hand. "Thank you though ... for believing in me. I truly think you are the first to do so." Regina smiled, beginning to lead Emma again through the castle, this time to her private royal study. She motioned for the girl to sit, moving to grab some wine glasses and a bottle of her best red.
Emma followed Regina and couldn't help but to smile. "Thank you, for inviting me. Especially because… Well, to be honest, I think you are a very smart and beautiful woman. I'm sure of it now more so than when we first met that you know who I am… Or at least, I think you do." Emma replied in a sheepish tone. She then took a seat and watched as the brunette gathered wine glasses and the wine she had promised to share with her. "So, does this mean we will be meeting again, if you plan to tell me your side of the tale but not today?" Emma asked with a hopeful smile, again, unconsciously flirting.
Regina couldn't help but blush for what seemed like the hundredth time whilst in Emma's presence. She sat down and popped the cork off the wine bottle, pouring the princess a glass and then herself one. "Well ... yes. I would actually love to see you again. To be very honest Emma, I find you ... invigorating. You're so very different than any other woman I've met, not to mention very beautiful." She laid a gentle hand upon Emma's arm, smiling sweetly, handing her the glass. "Also you're the first person to be within my presence and know who I am without wishing me death."
It was now Emma's turn to blush. A small giggle escaped her lips before smiling at Regina. "You are quite flattering, Gina… But trust me, my beauty is nothing compared to yours, I can assure you." Emma replied with a faint smile, taking the glass from the Queen. "I am really enjoying spending time with you, I truly would hate for it to end… B-but my mother, she surely will send out a search party for me soon. I may or may not have skipped out on my birthday party." Emma added with a mischievous smile, taking a sip of the offered wine.
Regina's eyes widened. "It's your birthday?!" She practically giggled. "Well then ... happy birthday Emma." Regina lifted her glass into the air slightly as a toast. "And if your mother does, honestly, who minds? You're a grown woman, not five years old. You seem like you can handle yourself; you're certainly smart enough and you look exceedingly strong .." Regina bit her lip, taking in Emma's muscles before taking a sip of her wine.
Emma couldn't help it, her cheeks grew even hotter and she felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach, a feeling she had only felt once before when she and a servant girl had shared a brief kiss. "You obviously don't know my mother… To her, I will always be a child, until she forces me to marry a man and aid her in some sort of political gain. It's like my parents don't understand that it's not the life I want. She even had the audacity to have me dance with men tonight, I couldn't take it any longer so well… I snuck out and now I'm here." Emma replied before smiling at Regina. "You seem capable of taking care of yourself as well, you have very beautiful arms." Emma added, taking notice of Regina's toned muscles as well as her beautiful appearance.
Regina bit her lip as Emma spoke. "So, I take it you ... perfer women?" She asked lightly, wondering if she had even the slightest chance with the princess she had found herself quickly falling for. She chuckled, nodding her head. "Why, thank you." Regina giggled, setting down her wine and crossing her legs.
"I certainly don't prefer the men my mother wants for me to marry, such as a man twice my age and another who is quite younger but has no brains at all. To be honest, I want someone I can easily fall for, where it's easy and I don't have to drown myself in ale to even have the desire to dance with." Emma replied honestly. "Though if there were a short answer. I would say… I-I prefer a woman over a man any day." Emma added, though she quickly regretted allowing such a secret to leave her pink lips.
Regina smiled once again and looked at Emma. "I say the same." She admitted, lifting her hand to undo her ponytail and letting her long brunette curls fall against her shoulders. She swallowed hard, biting her lip and digging her nails into her knee as she looked at Emma, seemingly lovingly. Someone to easily fall for was the perfect term to the Queen about Emma. Her heart racing rapidly in her chest and she couldn't help herself in truth. She could have been seen as coming off as forward, but again, like Emma said, having a connection with someone quickly and falling in love was better than a long term courtship where you end hating your partner.
"P-please… D-don't tell anyone, if my parents were to find out. I-I don't know what I would do. I only turned eighteen today and they're already attempting to marry me off. I-It's like I have no choice in the matter. I could run, I could leave but I would have no place to go." Emma rambled a bit before shaking her head. "Listen to me, I'm a mess. This isn't your concern, I'm a guest in your home. I apologize. Please. forgive me. W-why don't we speak of other things?" Emma added. hoping to keep the subject away from her parents and god forbid the Kingdom she had already begun to run away from; the one she had been wishing to run from ever since she came to terms with her sexuality.
Regina shook her head and took Emma's hands in her own. "No, you aren't a mess. Emma ... I was the same way with my mother. I kept who I was a secret and at your age, six years years ago, was married to a man older than my father. That's why I was deemed evil; I killed my husband, a royal friend of your mother's father, in self defense because I couldn't handle his abuse or that life anymore. But I won't let that happen to you." Regina rambled, feeling her lip quiver slightly; the thought of Emma going through what she went through breaking her heart and making her stomach sick.
Emma listened intently, hearing the other woman's version of a story she had heard many times by her mother seemed to cause her own little heart to break. Knowing now more than ever that the woman in front of her was telling the truth rather than a version of it.
"Hell, I'd have you come stay here before I'd let her do that to you."
"Y-you would do that for me? D-don't you know w-who I am? I-I… I can't believe you would do such a nice thing for me, it's just…" Emma replied, tears filling her eyes and sliding down her rosy cheeks.
Regina nodded slowly. "I know who you are Emma. And yes, I would do that in a heartbeat for you." She whispered, scooting closer and wiping away her tears lovingly. "You deserve to be happy, to be free to live your life, and part of living your life is being able to love whomever you want to love Emma, whether it's a woman or a man or just being free to be yourself ... you deserve that. Everyone deserves that."
Emma sat there, completely stunned. It was the first time anyone had ever mentioned anything about her own happiness before. It was something Emma took to heart. "Gina… W-what if what I want, what if what would make me happy is something I shouldn't do? Something that is well… Forbidden?" Emma questioned in reply, her hands clasping together in a nervous habit.
Regina shrugged. "If you really want it, then it's not forbidden and no one can stop you from getting it." She soothed, brushing a strand of hair out of Emma's face, smiling sweetly at the beautiful young woman.
Emma flinched for just a moment before relaxing. Though her hands remained clasped and in her lap for a few moments before hesitantly reaching both of them out to cup Regina's face. The blonde then daringly leaned in and pressed her lips to Regina's, kissing the brunette with a searing yet tentative passion.