Day 3 of Winter 2015 Swan Queen Week.
"This is it," Neal said squatting next to Emma, "our last score, you ready?"
"Yeah," Emma responded with zero enthusiasm.
"What's the matter?" Neal asked sitting down beside her. "This really should be the last one you know. This one's really desperate for companionship. She fell for you the minute she laid eyes on you."
Emma sighed as she stood up to get away from him. This was their life, con after con, never looking back to see the damage they left behind. Neal said this was their last mark, but she didn't believe him. Their score before this was supposed to last them for a few years, but they barely made it six months, and now he thought she was going to manipulate a widow out of everything she owned. It was too far.
"Come on Emma," Neal went on trying to reach her, "after this, it'll strictly be you and me, don't you want that?"
No. She wanted to answer. She fell out of love with Neal months, possibly even years ago, but she had no one else. They had been runaways, thieves, and now master con artist together since they were teenagers. She cared for Neal, and knew that although they were criminals, he wasn't a bad guy. She just didn't love him anymore. Then there was this woman, Regina. Emma didn't tell Neal that she had tracked Regina down long before she found out she was supposed to be their next mark.
Regina had caught Emma's eyes while she was out scouring the market one Sunday morning and she had taken Emma's breath away. Regina carried herself with confidence and determination. Emma was actually intimidated by her at first. She watched as the bold beauty strutted from vender to vender spreading the crowd with her presence as she approached each one, but even though she carried herself like a Queen, she was nothing but courteous to the people around her. Emma stalked her for a while until she rounded a corner to find a street empty. Emma's head jerked from side to side as she scratched her head. This woman was a complete mystery, or so she thought.
"Can I help you?" Came a raspy voice from behind her.
Emma froze. No one ever caught her trailing them before, but as Emma turned, Regina stepped out of the shadows and into her light. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to creep you out," Emma stated, but the woman eyed her, waiting for a further explanation. Intimidated? No, it was worse than that. "I," Emma started, "I," but her words were long gone. She was about to turn and run beyond embarrassed when a faint smirk crept up Regina's face.
"If you're going to stalk me, do you mind if I at least have your name?"
"Emma," she let out hypnotized. Emma had never given out her real name before. She even waited a month before telling Neal.
"Thank you Emma." And with that, she turned the corner to go. Emma screamed inside. Where was she going? It was like the woman was a life force and without her presence Emma would fade into nothingness.
Finally, Emma's brain forced her legs to move and she chased her around the corner. "Wait..." and that was all it took. Regina was still hesitant for a while afterwards, but they spent the day together, talking until their mouths begged for rest. Nothing about Regina screamed arranged marriage. So when Neal showed Emma Regina's profile she was more intrigued about what else she could learn from her than interested in her as a mark. It only took another week before Emma reveled who she really was and to Emma's surprise, Regina didn't blink; when Emma asked her about the arranged marriage excerpt though, she stared at Emma as if she had gone crazy. Emma pulled out the article Neal printed out online and handed it over.
Regina fell over laughing as she read the article, reading over her favorite lines about her being middle age and would need to start the baby process soon, a few times out loud. "You honestly thought this was real?"
"Well, it is in your hand." Regina couldn't argue with that and filled Emma in on a conversation she had with her father a few months prior. Her father and she joked about putting an ad out since she hadn't been with someone in years and time was ticking.
"My mother must have overheard us," she continued laughing some more, "that explains all the bizarre e-mails and phone calls." After that, there were no more secrets between them and weeks turned into months, their relationship growing behind every one's eyes.
"Emma," Neal called, snapping her back. "It's time to go." Emma spun around and pulled Neal into her, holding him longer than usual. He didn't say anything and she was glad. It was time for her to go. But Neal didn't realize that during this con she was truthful and building a relationship with Regina the entire time. He didn't know there was a letter in the glove box saying goodbye to him, that she had found her happiness with someone else. He didn't know the necklace he had given her was tucked away inside the envelope, stating that once he was good for her, but not they were toxic for one another. It was time for her to choose her own path, her own life. Emma and Regina had been doing their own con this whole time, playing up this idea of an arranged marriage for the people in their lives, and in the end, it might even happen, but on their terms.