Part 2

Regina sighed as she studied the grilled cheese sandwich Emma had prepared. They were well and truly stuck here now. The snow had begun falling as soon as they had arrived. Now, four hours later the sun was almost invisible in the grayness and the snowfall had not abated at all. In fact it seemed to be getting harder and faster, if the rising pitch of the wind whistling past the window was any indication.

"Go on, eat up. I know it's not your favorite, but sorry, we're all out of kale."

Shaking her head, Regina put down her sandwich. Emma sat across from her at the small table. They were in line with the fire, but not next to it, the heat having already begun reaching all corners of the tiny one-room building. "It's fine," she said. "I was just thinking about the storm."

"Yeah," Emma said, as though she felt she had to say something. Though what could she say? A snow storm was not something either of them had expected.

"This was supposed to be just a simple trip to New York."

"Maybe we should have flown," Emma said.

"I'd rather not. I wasn't ever a fan of flying."

"Really? Not even with your friend Maleficent?"

Regina wondered why Emma would mention her training with Maleficent now. "No, she never allowed it again after I fell off the first time."

"You did actually ride the dragon?" Emma asked, her tone sounding kind of awed.

"Yes, I was an adventurous young woman."

"Yeah." Emma picked up her sandwich. "But not any more."

"What does that mean?"

"Just that. You're not exactly the adventuring type."

"And you are?"

"I wandered around for ten years, no place longer than a few months, remember?"

"You liked that life?" Regina had always thought Emma hated it.

"It had its moments."

"I was too busy running after a toddler to think much about adventuring."

"Yeah." Emma's tone was snappish. Regina wasn't going to simply let it sit.

"There you go again. If you have something to say, say it."

"What? I'm agreeing with you."

Regina frowned and picked up her grilled cheese. Taking a bite she decided to change the topic. "The sandwich is good. Thank you."

Emma's smile flashed briefly. "You're welcome."

Regina tried to ignore the warmth pooling in her own belly as she met Emma's gaze.

They finished the sandwiches in a not uncomfortable silence.

Emma rested her head on her hand, elbow on the arm of the chair in view of the fire. She blinked, thinking the flames were going out and jerked upright.

"Something wrong?" Regina asked.

"Uh, no, nope. Just tired."

"It is late, almost midnight."

"Yeah."

"Emma," Regina said.

"Yeah?"

"The snow hasn't stopped."

Emma nodded. She'd heard the slide of an obviously heavy build up slide off the roof about five minutes earlier too. "Yeah, I know."

"Thank you for fetching more firewood."

She shrugged and saw Regina looking at her jeans hanging by the fireplace. They had gotten soaked in the chest-high snow, and she'd had to change to dry pants from her bag, but they were only a thin material, not suited to the cold. "You're welcome."

"I'm sorry," Regina said.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry I convinced you to come with me."

"You'd be stuck out here without me if I hadn't come. And I'm not waiting back in Storybrooke for word and you gone for days."

"Henry would be worried."

Emma injected quickly, "So would I."

Regina's dark eyes swept toward her then back to the fire. Watching the flames dancing in the brown was hypnotic. "I-" Then Regina just shook her head, cutting herself off. She stood. "I'll stack the fire then I'm going to sleep."

Standing, too, Emma nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

Regina knelt by the fireplace, sorting and placing logs. Over her shoulder, Emma could see the fire banking nicely; it would last several hours. Hopefully until dawn and then they could get the hell outta Dodge, she thought. "You do know how to make a fire," Emma said.

Regina cast a look over her shoulder, up at Emma then shrugged. "Occasionally I'm useful."

Emma chuckled. "More than occasionally."

Dipping her head and accepting the compliment, Regina added a final log then rolled back onto her heels and stood up. "That should do it until morning."

She didn't realize she was lagging behind until she saw Regina across the other side of the bed, staring down at the blankets and sheets.

They were going to have to share the bed; shouldn't be hard, but Regina's head was obviously other places if Emma was reading her darting eyes and pursing lips correctly.

Emma looked away and up toward the headboard. She frowned, seeing the wall decoration for the first time. "Sneaky old man."

"What?"

"He really did think we were a couple. Gave us the equivalent of the honeymoon suite, at least to his way of thinking."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Regina had begun her changing while Emma conveniently averted her eyes and stood now in just a bra and her pants searching through her bag's disarray for her silk pajamas. Not hard sharing a bed, we're grown women, Emma informed herself sharply as Regina's supple skin drew her eye again and again. She forced her gaze up.

"A dreamcatcher," Emma said, pointing it out on the wall over their... the bed. "Kinda hippie for a hunting lodge," she stated.

"Hippie?" Regina asked; she studied the dreamcatcher, and if Emma was reading her expression correctly, teeth pulling at her bottom lip, eyes widening, Regina was growing uncomfortable.

"Drug and free sex culture of the sixties, early seventies," Emma explained. Regina's eyes widened. "I take it you're unfamiliar?"

"You, too. None of us got here until the eighties."

"Yeah, but I went to school here. Had lots of still-hippies as teachers in elementary. A few in junior high. Then the curmudgeons who wished they'd been hippies taught high school."

Regina mused. "Quite the colorful life."

Sitting down on her side of the bed, Emma was surprised it was that easy to distract Regina, who immediately sat down on her side of the bed.

Emma snickered. "Dreamcatchers were all the rage. I think I even made one in art class, during a unit on native American crafts. Most believed it tapped sexual energy, made you more potent."

"That's not at all what they do." Regina was appalled.

"So, the Enchanted Forest had them? What were they used for there?"

Regina nodded. "And they caught and held good dreams, but kept the bad ones away." She glanced toward the dreamcatcher again and Emma watched that bottom lip get chewed again. "I had one above my bed in my...when I was a child."

"Sounds nice."

Regina cleared her throat and brought her gaze back to Emma's. "I outgrew it."

Emma pulled back the covers and slipped into her side. "Neal got me one when we were dating." Regina frowned. Emma shrugged. "Do we ever outgrow dreaming?"

Regina rested back, staring up at the ceiling, arms crossed over the blankets she smoothed. "Just change which dreams we want to come true."

Turning her head, Emma watched Regina's silhouette breathing in the dim light. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Regina looked at Emma; neither spoke. After a moment, Regina exhaled and turned on her side, adjusting her covers and looking toward the window wall. "Good night, Emma."

Emma stayed on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Good night, Regina."

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