Woo double update! And another long chapter! Not as long as the previous one, but it's more than 4,000 words!
Lucky you!
Not much else to say, so let's get right to it!
3 days later, Emma left the post office and quickly opened the letter, wanting to see what it said. Seeing the approval in front of her, she didn't fight the bright grin that appeared on her face. She tucked the letter away and made her way towards the castle, hoping to speak to the Queen.
Once she arrived at the private palace garden, she saw that the room was empty. It was the middle of the day, so she supposed the royal had plenty of things to do, and would most definitely not spend her entire time holed up in her room. But Emma was in no hurry, she'd wait by the fireplace until the Queen returned, and hope that she wasn't overstepping boundaries.
Before Emma had taken more than a couple of steps inside, she saw purple smoke to her left, and her instincts kicked in as she quickly grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow, ready to shoot whoever it was. As the smoke dissolved, the thief saw the Queen standing there, the latter's anger slowly dissipating as she saw who it was that had supposedly broken into her room.
"I do hope you're not planning on shooting that arrow, thief," Regina smirked.
Emma shook out of her reverie and lowered her bow, putting the arrow away. "Sorry about that, you startled me."
"Which is the point. You stepped over the enchantment that notifies me if anyone tries to break into my room, so I quickly came here to see who was the fool that thought this was a good idea."
The thief gave a sheepish smile. "My apologies. I hope I didn't interrupt anything important."
Regina hummed, smirk growing wider. "Oh you certainly did, but it was a boring meeting anyway, so I'm glad for the reprieve. Though I am curious as to what you are doing here?"
She fished out the letter and held it up with a grin. "I wanted to thank you for approving the circus."
"Ah yes, the circus. I never got to ask you when we last talked, but what does a thief do in a circus?"
"Well, plenty of things..." Emma said, thinking of keeping it vague, putting the letter away once more, trying to stall. She leaned against the wall behind her and tried to appear nonchalant.
"I see. And pray tell, this 'circus' wouldn't be a cover for your notorious gang of thieves to rob me and this kingdom's affluent citizens blind and then distribute the loot throughout the Enchanted Forest, now would it?"
From the little Regina saw of the thief's face, she had blanched, mouth gaping, and she was sure that if she could see them, her eyes would be wide open.
"No! Well, I mean, yes it usually is, but I give you my word, we...I won't rob you...and I promise that no one in my troupe will either." Emma responded, flustered.
"Oh really? And what did I do to deserve such a special treatment from the Shadow Thief? From what my sources tell me, you rob the rich and powerful, and as I understand it, I fit that description perfectly." Adding an extra sashaying of her hips, Regina walked towards the thief until they were mere inches apart, and looked up into the darkness of the hood that hid the upper half of the thief's face perfectly. "Well?"
"I uhm, I just...we've been having a good run, gotten a lot of extra income, and although we've generally stayed away from your kingdom, your citizens still need help, so we thought we'd pitch in."
"I see, and why have your people kept away? Is everyone afraid of the Evil Queen?" she asked, a playful glint to her eyes.
Emma looked away, and responded, "Yeah, my parents are cautious and wanted nothing to do with this kingdom, but being here for the past few weeks reminded me that these people would benefit from our help."
The Queen gave a hum of agreement. "Indeed, and there's only so much I can do when people are afraid to accept anything I have to offer because they fear the Evil Queen will do some unspeakable act in retribution should they fall into what they believe, is a trap."
"Hey, you're more than just the Evil Queen. I mean come on, you're actually willing to help your people. Other kingdoms won't even give their less fortunate citizens the time of day."
Regina smiled at the compliment, and then it morphed into a smirk as she once more posed the question, "But you still haven't told me, what did I do to deserve this special treatment?"
The thief cleared her throat, trying to look anywhere but at the figure inches away from her. "What do you mean?"
"Oh you know very well thief. But allow me to enlighten you just in case: you saved my life, escorted me out of the Enchanted Forest, taught me the basics of sword-fighting, and you've been practically visiting me weekly. Such is probably not common for a thief, or does everyone in your merry band of thieves have someone they trail after like you do me?"
Emma spluttered for a second, before finding her voice again. "I do not trail after you!"
"You keep telling yourself that, thief. So? Am I going to receive an answer sometime soon?"
"I...I want you to trust me," Emma responded.
"And you not robbing me is a testament of that supposed trust?"
"Somewhat, I'm just trying to show I'm more than just a thief, and it's not every day where a royal doesn't just go after my ass and want to lock me up for life." It definitely wasn't the entire reason. But Emma couldn't just say that she was falling for the royal and then not expect to have her head chopped off right there and then, right?
Regina let out a chuckle. If anything, the thief was at least charming. "Well, perhaps if you give me a name and lower that hood, I might be more inclined to think of you as more than just a thief."
"But I have a secret identity to keep!" the thief pouted.
"Oh I'm certain you do. But why keep the mystery? We can skip around this whole dodging and mysterious allure."
"Well, perhaps, if you come visit me at the circus, you'll be able to find out." Emma punctuated that with a kiss to the Queen's cheek.
Although Emma's plan was to leave the royal stunned after the kiss on the cheek, making her getaway, it seemed that this time, the Queen was well prepared, and placed both her hands on the wall on either side of Emma's face, trapping her between her arms. "Oh no you don't."
The thief gave the smallest of gulps and gave a sheepish smile, having nowhere to go. "Not a fan of the cheek kisses I'm guessing?"
"That's where you're wrong, thief, but I'm curious as to why. Queens don't usually receive such...personal signs of affection, especially not from thieves who break in to their gardens on a weekly basis."
"Perhaps, but since I've yet to be arrested for said acts, I will continue to do so."
"But why?"
"For that, you'll have to come to the circus."
Regina sighed, rolling her eyes. "You really want me to go, don't you?"
The thief nodded fervently. "I do."
"Well I suppose we'll have to see then." In a twisting turn of events, Emma was shocked as lips were gently pressed onto hers in a kiss. It was a quick peck, but it left the thief flustered and giddy.
"I will hope to see you in a few days then, your Highness."
Emma was riding in the caravan with the other members of the troupe, still not over the small kiss she had shared with the Queen a few days ago. Was it possible that the royal liked her too? It was too much to hope...and what would happen once she found out who Emma was, who her parents were?
One thing she hadn't thought about was: how would the Queen be able to visit her at the circus? It wasn't as if she could just waltz down the village to visit, and even if she did, she'd probably be flanked by guards, which meant that there was no way they'd be able to have a moment together.
And if Red saw her, well, that would lead to double her problems.
"So, ready for this?" Elizabeth asked, plopping down beside her.
"Yeah, we've done this countless times before, why wouldn't I be?" Emma shrugged, but she could imagine what the reason was.
"Because we're going to the Dark Kingdom? Home of the one and only 'Evil Queen'? Name ring any bells?"
"Yeah I know, but we'll hopefully not get her attention, after all, helping people by giving them money isn't a crime as far as I'm aware."
"Knowing her, it might be," Elizabeth chuckled, getting Emma to grin at her.
It was evening by the time they arrived to their assigned village grounds within the Dark Kingdom. It was perfect, and together, they decided that they'd wait until tomorrow to set up. Now, all nine members of the troupe were dead tired, and Emma quickly fell asleep on her bunk.
"Ah, but the dragon would not go down without a fight!" Emma exclaimed, crouching low as she grinned at the row of children raptly listening to her tale.
As the troupe worked on setting themselves up, a few curious spectators had approached them, children and adults alike, wanting to see what was going on. With that, Emma had donned her Colombina mask, and began telling the riveting tale of the knight and the dragon - somewhat loosely based on the tale her father had told of his own experience battling a dragon in his time - entertaining their impromptu guests while the rest of the troupe finished setting up.
By now she had captivated her audience, getting to the good part. She stood, up, discreetly reached into her back pouch, grabbing a fistful of the special sand, and held her fist out, close to her face with the palm up.
"Then, with a ferocious breath of fire, the dragon pounced!" Emma blew onto her fist, getting the sand to light up and create a stream of fire. She slowly opened her fist, making sure that all the sand flew out and burned, before continuing, "The knight though, was not scared, for he raised his shield high in the air to protect himself from the fire, and charged at the dragon! With a slash of his sword-"
"Peter! There you are!" Emma paused as a harried woman, dressed impeccably, made her way to the front, disturbing the small crowd, and grabbed a young boy by the scruff of his shirt, who had been sitting and listening to Emma, dressed in a similarly state of of attire. "What are you doing here? You know these people will rob you blind don't you?"
"But mother, the story was getting to a good part!" Peter cried out in anguish.
"That's the point! You see, these ruffians and traveling circuses are here to rob people! They enchant you to fall for their traps and then rob you blind!" Although the crowd was barely more than a dozen in size, consisting of an equal mix of adults and children; a few of them, having heard the woman's exclamations, quickly ran off, patting their pockets and checking their valuables.
Emma was fuming, fists tightly clenched, jaw hard. "Well, lady, if you were to be a bit more open minded, you'd see that I was just trying to keep people entertained, which is my job, not to pull one over your son or any of the other fine people who were listening to a tale you interrupted."
The lady gave a haughty laugh that made Emma's blood boil. This woman revelled in putting people beneath her down, she could just tell. And Emma was smack in that category. "Oh please, don't try to play the innocent card, girl. I know your type...Peter dear, please cover your ears" - the boy did just that and the woman continued - "you'll only ever be scum and if you think for a second that I don't see right through your ruse, you are an even more pathetic bitch than I can imagine."
This was not news for Emma, she had heard worse, specially yelled at her as she ran off with guards running after her, shooting arrows and other projectiles at her. It still stung, but she just steeled herself, not wanting to give the lady the satisfaction of thinking she got to her.
"Perhaps," a voice spoke out from the small remaining crowd of stragglers, "if you let go of your prejudices and learned to get your head out of your ass, Lady Smith, you might one day actually enjoy such a simple and entertaining event."
Lady Smith turned to face the woman who had spoken, and sneered at seeing a brunette in what she considered peasant clothes. "And who do you think you are to speak to me that way girl? Who do you work for?"
"I work at the palace, you're more than welcome to let the Queen know what I have said if it bothers you." Emma met the girl's and gaze gave her a thankful smile, glad to see someone was standing up to this entitled woman, and swore she saw her wink in response.
"Oh I certainly shall." The lady grabbed her son by the arm - the poor boy still had his ears covered - and dragged him off.
Emma took a deep breath and let it out, before saying, "Sorry folks, that will be all for now."
There were some groans of disappointment as the crowd dispersed.
"Hey Thea! I need some help here." While they were out in their troupes, and handing out money, they took up alternate identities to keep themselves safe. So for now, Emma was Thea, and she turned to the voice, seeing Thomas asking for help. She tried to find the other woman, hoping to convey a 'thank you' silently and quickly, but couldn't find her, so she went to help Thomas with whatever setting up he needed with.
She had a feeling she'd be seeing the other woman again.
As she finished tying off the tent onto the peg in the ground, Emma looked up once she saw the hem of a dress stop by her feet.
"Do I not get a thank you?"
Emma saw the woman from before, standing there with a smirk. She shot up with a grin and said, "Yes! I'm so sorry, I had to help the troupe to set up, I was hoping I might get a chance to run into you again. But yes, thank you for standing up for me, I hope you don't get in trouble for it."
"Oh don't worry about me, Lady Smith is just a pompous woman with a head full of air."
"Yes I can clearly tell, and arrogance too," Emma responded, getting the other woman to let out a laugh.
"She is very much arrogant."
Emma quickly checked to make sure no one would need her immediate help, and then asked, "Would you like to walk around for a bit?"
"I'd love to."
"Great!" Emma grinned, slipping the mask away from her face, and tucked it into a pocket in her britches. She held out her arm for the other woman to take, and asked, "Shall we?"
They had been walking in a comfortable silence, when the other woman asked, "Do you often get people treating you like this?"
"Yeah, it's usually worse, sometimes we've even been chased out of a village," Emma responded with a shrug. "So, you work at the palace?"
"Yes, I said as much."
"Hmm, I know." Truth was, Emma was starting to guess who exactly was accompanying her.
"Then asking me again is because...?" the other woman queried.
"I know someone else at the palace, I was wondering if you knew her."
"Perhaps, what is her name?"
"I actually don't know..."
The other woman frowned then asked, "What is she like?"
Emma grinned, and then said, "Well, she's a brunette like you, with these wonderful brown eyes, unafraid to speak her mind, gorgeous, she can have quite a temper, but she is actually quite adorable sometimes, and," - she stopped walking, getting the other woman to stop too, and as they unlinked their arms and faced each other, Emma continued with a smirk - "she is pretty good at sword-fighting, do you know her?"
The other woman's expression resembled that of a perplexed deer, and Emma knew she had been right.
Before anyone could say anything else, Emma felt someone tugging on her shirt. She turned, and saw a little girl looking up at her with wide eyes. "Hi! And who are you?"
"I'm Amelia! I wanted to say thank you for your help. Mommy bought me a doll with the money you gave us," the girl gave a toothy smile, and both women's hearts melted at the sight.
Emma picked up the little girl with a whoop, and said, "Well you're very welcome! What did you name your doll?"
"Nina!" the girl responded enthusiastically. "She's my new friend!"
"Well that's good! Friends are always important to have."
"Is she your friend?" Amelia asked, pointing to Emma's companion.
"I'd like to hope so, but you want to know something?" Emma asked the last part in a fake-conspiratorial whisper, certain the other woman could hear her.
Amelia nodded enthusiastically, leaning closer to listen.
"I actually like like her."
The little girl then looked at Emma as though she had just been given the greatest secret on earth.
"Do you think she likes me back?" Emma asked the little girl.
Amelia silently turned to study the other woman, tilting her head inquisitively as she pondered. Emma met the other woman's look - which bordered between amusement and confusion - and winked.
"Yep, I think so," was Amelia's verdict.
"Amelia? Where are you?"
"Here mama!" Amelia yelled back, waving at her mother.
"Oh there you are! And I see you managed to find just who I was looking for! Now why don't you go find your father and brother?"
"Sure thing mama!" Emma let little Amelia down, who grinned up at the two women. "It was nice to meet you!"
"It was nice to meet you too, Amelia," the brunette responded.
To Emma, Amelia said, "Good luck!"
The blonde let out a laugh as she nodded, before turning to Amelia's mother. "Your daughter is wonderful."
"Oh I know, she's so enthusiastic. I actually wanted to thank you once again, I haven't seen Amelia and Ben so happy in a long time, and your help..." The older woman was bordering on full out crying by that point.
"Hey, it's alright, it's what we're here for," Emma reassured her, before getting engulfed in a hug.
"But still, bless you."
Emma was left dazed by the time the compliments were finished - mostly because Amelia's mother had to get back to her family - and she turned to look at the brunette with a smile. "Sorry about that, where were we?"
"Well, I believe you were asking me about someone in the palace, and how you like like me," she responded with a smirk, dragging Emma off to the side so they were no longer in the middle of the path.
"Oh right, so tackling things by order, do you mind giving me a name for her?"
"Well, assuming we're thinking about the same person, there's this spinster by the name of Rebecca, who I've heard can be quite temperamental..."
"Oh come on," Emma pouted, seeing the brunette lean against a wall with a smirk. "Please?"
"Very well, very well. Regina."
Emma walked towards the brunette, coming to stand similarly to how they were a few days ago, but with flipped positions. "Well, very pleased to meet you, Regina."
As their lips met in a kiss, Regina wrapped her arms around the back of the thief's neck, pulling the blonde closer to her as their kiss deepened, their tongues meeting and caressing.
It was only when Regina heard herself moan that she decided that right now was not the time to practically make out in the middle of a village. Breaking apart, she felt her face flush.
"Hi," Emma said softly.
"Hey." Regina replied with a smile. "So, Thea, hmm?"
"Emma."
"Huh?"
"Thea's actually a stage name. Emma is my actual name."
Regina playfully smacking the blonde's arm. "Seriously? And you were adamant about knowing my name."
"Well you didn't ask," Emma replied, shrugging.
"Ah of course, gods forbid that you voluntarily part the information."
"Technically I did," Emma grinned as she responded.
Regina rolled her eyes, getting the thief to peck her on the lips.
"You know, I never would've expected the disguise. Is it a potion or..."
"Magic," Regina muttered in response, not wanting to be too loud in case anyone was listening. It wasn't that magic was outlawed, but it was rare enough that if she mentioned it, most people would be able to put together the conclusion that the Queen was right there.
"Ah, I see. It's a very good one."
"I've had my practise with it. If you will let me, I can cast an enchantment that will let you see me through the glamour."
"Very well, if you don't mind." Emma positioned herself to block Regina from view, her hands resting on the stone wall on either side of the royal.
With a small flick of the fingers, Emma saw a few sparkles of purple fly into her eyes, causing her to blink. The next thing she knew, she was seeing the real Regina, and she smiled widely, letting their lips connect once more.
Once they broke apart, Emma murmured, "Thanks."
"Of course. So, Emma, let us backtrack a bit. What was it that you told Amelia, about liking me?"
"Oh you know," the blonde said, letting her hands rest on Regina's hips, smiling deviously. "You're a good friend, despite the whole intimidating moniker."
"I see. And what happens when you double the amount of 'like's in the description?"
"Well, then I'd be inclined to say I might be falling head over heels for a certain someone that rules a certain kingdom."
Regina let out a small giggle and bit her lower lip.
"How about you?"
"What about me?" Regina responded with a knowing smirk.
"Single like or double like?"
"Hmm, double."
"Oh really? And for you what does it entail regarding me?"
"Well, it means that I've fallen for a charismatic thief with a penchant for helping others, even if it is teaching me how to use a sword."
Emma let out a laugh and proceeded to kiss Regina once more.
And that was this chapter! Plenty of fluff, plenty of happiness.
And now Regina and Emma have truly 'met'! No titles, no hoods, no masks, nada.
Now, since the holidays are coming up, as a big THANK YOU to everyone that reads and supports these stories, I'm going to try and write 2 more chapters of all my fics before the end of the year, I hope I can meet that quota for this fic!
So now the next fics will be the Kissing Booth and then Such a Heavenly View!
I love reading all of your reviews, so let me know what you think!