Chapter 3

Wow the response I got for the last chapter was just amazing! Another 10 favourites and 19 followers since the last chapter went up! Hope you all like this chapter just as much!

Just a heads up that I'll be starting my second year of uni on the 28th so updates may not be as frequent as they have been, but as soon as I get a chapter back from my beta it'll go up :)

Emma woke with her hair all over the place and her torso hanging off the edge of the bed but with a smile still playing about her lips. Sitting up slowly so as not to fall off her bed completely, she ran her fingers through her hair, stretched her arms and swung her legs out of bed. Emma pulled on her blue robe and went in search of her dresser Johanna. She had only walked towards the end of the corridor before Johanna appeared at the top of the stairs. "Emma! My you're up early this morning." Johanna noted, normally she had to practically wave breakfast under Emma's nose to get her out of bed.

"Oh am I?" Johanna nodded "Well I simply felt like it was time to get up, I can't waste my mornings sleeping." And with that Emma turned and headed back to her room, a stunned Johanna following in her wake.

"What would you like to wear this morning then Emma?" Johanna asked, opening up Emma's wardrobe to reveal the array of dresses that hung there. Emma ummed and ahhed for a few moments before picking out a dark green dress. With help from Johanna she was fully dressed in a few minutes, taking deep breaths to get her lungs used to her corset again.

On her way down to breakfast Emma whistled a tune her mom used to sing to her as a child. Entering the dining room she kissed both her parents on the cheek before taking her seat.

"You seem very happy today Emma. Are you seeing Regina again?" her father noted.

"Yes I am. Are you going to come today?" Emma asked hopefully.

David sighed and Emma's face fell. "Unfortunately my meeting for today has been cancelled so I am a free King." Emma grinned wholeheartedly "What time are you going out?"

"She's in the clearing by 3 and today I'm giving her a fighting lesson so it's perfect that you'll be there."

"Wait you're fighting today?" Snow asked, her voice going up a few octaves. "I thought you'd just be riding again. You will be careful won't you dear? Especially if Regina hasn't done any fighting before."

"Of course I'll be careful Mom. Have you seen me fight? Just ask Killian, I'm pretty good." Emma boasted, her grin fading slightly as she noticed the worry etched on her mother's face. "I'll be careful I promise, and I'll make sure Regina doesn't hurt herself either." Finishing her breakfast she got up and kissed her mother on the cheek again before leaving to go up to the library to meet her tutor for her first lesson.

Snow still remained nervous about her daughter's plans for the afternoon but David quickly soothed her, reminding her that he would be there the entire time and even pointing out that Emma was quite competent with a sword and therefore wouldn't accidentally hurt Regina or herself.

The time was approaching half past 2 and Regina had retreated to her room to change, a nervous smile on her face at the thought of handling a sword. She had yet to tell her father about Emma's plan for the afternoon, she didn't want to risk him saying 'no' and refusing to accompany her. She had decided to tell him when they were already on the way to the clearing, that way she could at least be sure her mother wouldn't find out.

Regina met Henry at the stables. He was stood outside waiting, even after all these years simply being around horses unnerved him. "I'll just go saddle up Rocinante but we'll walk over together" Regina said, disappearing through the stable door and emerging a few moments later with Rocinante's reins in one hand. Taking her father's hand in the other they headed off towards the forest at a stroll, taking in the emerging flowers and budding trees as they went.

"Daddy, I need to tell you before we get to the clearing that Emma is going to give me a sword lesson today." Henry started to object but Regina continued "She wanted me to tell you so you wouldn't react badly if you saw her with swords. She won't hurt me and I'll be careful. I'm actually pretty excited to use a sword." Regina couldn't help the grin spreading across her lips at the thought of her lesson with Emma.

"Well there isn't really much I can do to stop you my dear. If you want to do something you will, you've always been a headstrong girl." Henry responded, a hint of worry to his voice.

As they approached the clearing a distinct sound of a struggle could be heard, along with the clinking of swords. Regina exchanged a confused look with her father and quickened her pace to see the commotion. Standing central in the clearing stood Emma, locked in a sword battle with a man. And he wasn't Killian.

Regina wasn't entirely sure what happened but the next thing she knew she was on the back of Rocinante, cantering towards where Emma was fighting. "Emma!" Regina shouted once she was close enough for Emma to hear. Rocinante slowed and Regina dismounted, running to Emma's side "Emma, are you okay?" she added, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah I'm fine, why?" Emma asked confused, shooting a look at the man stood opposite her.

"Well… I uh…" Regina stuttered, her face flushing pink as she realised that Emma wasn't actually in any danger.

"Wait, did you think we were actually fighting?" Regina nodded meekly "Oh Regina no, this is my father, he's the one who taught me to fight in the first place. We were just waiting for you and I wanted to show him how much I've improved since my first lesson."

Regina flushed a deeper shade of red once she realised the King was stood in front of her, and had just watched her rush to the aid of his daughter. "Your highness." Regina said as she curtseyed.

"It's very nice to meet you Regina, Emma has talked of nothing else for the past 2 days. And please, call me David." David smiled, offering his hand to Regina to shake. "And you must be Henry." He added looking at Henry who had finally caught up to the trio.

"I uh yes I am, Regina please be careful." Henry cautioned as Regina took one of the swords Emma offered.

"Don't worry sir. Emma is very talented with a blade and under both our teaching Regina won't come to any harm." David assured, watching his daughter show Regina how to stand.

"Okay, We're going to use dad as the opponent, simply because he's stood in front of you. For the first stance I want you to raise your sword up like this." Emma demonstrated holding the sword with her right hand closest to the hilt, her left hand at the edge, she brought the sword up on her right hand side in line with the top of her head, her legs slightly bent and shoulder width apart, the tip of the blade pointed threateningly at her fathers throat.

Regina attempted to copy but the weight of the sword took her by surprise when she tried to bring it up and her arms sagged at the weight.

"Emma, maybe try one of the lower stances first, let her get used to the feel of the blade." David suggested, receiving a thankful smile from Regina.

"Oh, yeah, good thinking. In that case then, the third position is like this." Emma swung the sword down so that the point of the sword now faced down, almost touching the ground, moving her right foot from behind her body so that it was now in front of her left "With this stance either of your feet can be forward but this allows for a quick counterstrike."

Regina had no problem in copying this stance, looking at Emma to see what she thought and receiving a huge grin in response.

"Great. From here, the next stance is raising the sword above your head…" Emma's voice trailed off again when she realised Regina would have to hold the sword up again, "but if you don't think you can do that we can do another stance…" Emma's voice trailed off again but this time it was in shock as Regina swung the sword up over her left side, bringing it to rest above her head. "Whoa, awesome. Well done!" Emma exclaimed wincing slightly as the blade dipped behind Regina, coming dangerously close to slicing her head open.

"Regina dear be careful. I don't want to explain to your mother how you came to have a hole in your head." Henry cried as he watched his daughter.

"I'm fine daddy." Regina beamed. "What's next?"

Emma ran through the different beginner stances that David had taught her many years ago, Regina attempting to copy and bursting into giggles when Emma told her the old names for the stances: Ox; Plow; Fool and Roof. "I feel like a fool." Regina chuckled as she copied the motions Emma did with a lot less confidence and grace than she had. She found it amazing how Emma could wield a sword and still have so much grace.

"No Regina you're doing well. So much better than Emma was when I started teaching her." David encouraged, receiving a 'hey' and a punch in the arm from Emma.

"In any case I think that's enough for today. If I do anymore I won't be able to lift my arms and then mother will want answers." Regina said handing her sword back to Emma, who then handed both swords to her dad so she could hug Regina. "And tomorrow perhaps we could not have the swords? I might need a day or two to recover." She added from behind Emma's arms. Emma nodded her agreement and squeezed Regina's arms as she let go.

"Same time tomorrow then." Emma smiled, watching Regina walk over to Rocinante and pick up his reins.

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of missing it." Regina responded over her shoulder as she and Henry walked back across the clearing.

"So, what do you think?" Emma asked, turning to her father once Regina and Henry were out of earshot.

"I think she's lovely, and if she's responsible for you agreeing to go to the ball for your birthday then she's a miracle worker. I know you're not keen on the idea but your mother wants to celebrate." David replied, wrapping an arm around Emma's shoulders as they began the walk back to the castle. "But you can of course have a hand in the planning, I know your mother has grand ideas for the décor, food, dancing, but she'd be over the moon if you offered to help."

"Maybe I can try and rein her in a bit then." Emma chuckled.

That night at dinner Emma thought her eardrums had shattered when she asked Snow if she could help with planning for the ball, the squeal was so high pitched. "Okay Mom you don't need to deafen me." Emma muttered rubbing her ears.

"Oh darling, this is going to be so much fun. We'll make it a night you'll never forget." Snow exclaimed jumping up from her seat and throwing her arms around her daughter.

"Snow I think it would make sense if our daughter actually lived to help plan her birthday ball." David laughed as Snow shot him a look before releasing Emma.

"I have some amazing ideas. How about tomorrow after you come back from seeing Regina we'll start planning?"

Emma chuckled softly, shaking her head at her father who was still laughing.

"I look forward to it mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go to bed."

Although Emma was tired she didn't head straight to bed, instead she sat down at her writing desk and wrote a quick note to Regina. Calling a bird to her window she attached the note to its leg and let it fly. Without even waiting for a reply Emma pulled on her nightdress and climbed into bed.

Regina's dinner was uneventful, her mother observed her every move yet said nothing, but that was standard procedure in the Mills household. Excusing herself from the table, with the same excuse Emma had used, she headed up to her room. Unlike Emma she wasn't particularly tired, her arms were still aching from her afternoon of 'sword fighting' but she didn't feel the need to sleep yet. Picking up her book she sat on her windowsill and started to read. She had only managed a few pages before a fluttering made her look up. There was a bird at her window. Grinning Regina unhooked the latch and allowed the bird to land on her fingers before untying the scroll.

"Dear Regina,

I have agreed to help my mom plan my birthday ball. I know, I've made a huge mistake but in order to minimise embarrassment on my part I thought I should be there at the planning meetings. Someone has to say no to the pink ribbons and meringue dress! You had better be there! I doubt from what you've said that your mom will be a problem but if she is, tell her I have an eligible cousin from the other side of the forest coming. That should keep her satisfied. I can't imagine it'll end well for me but if I don't have your beautiful face to lessen the torture, I don't know what I would do.

See you tomorrow (minus swords).

Your friend,

Emma"

Regina smirked at the words etched on the parchment and with a twinkle in her eye, she folded it up and slotted it in next to the note she had received yesterday. Regina had only read a few more pages before her eyes began to droop and a massive yawn stretched through her. She would answer Emma's note in the morning she thought as she extinguished her candle and she fell into bed.

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