It's maddening. All of these random flashbacks that have been repeatedly flashing through Regina's mind has been absolutely maddening. One moment, she's experiencing a fun or intimate moment with Emma in the present day and then, suddenly, she's thrown back into the past, experiencing a moment very similar to the present moment with a younger version of herself and Emma. The more she sees in these flashbacks, the more questions that begin to build up in her mind. She's seen herself cuddling with Emma, she's seen Emma fawn over her, she's seen her parents fawn over her, and she's seen her mother actually look frightened for her. It feels as if these flashbacks never happened in the first place, but were all part of a dream. An illusion. A made-up past. But it's not a dream, it's not an illusion, and it's not made-up. It all happened. Every last thing that she's seen…has happened. She and Emma never really hated each other. She could see that by the way the two interacted with each other in the flashbacks and she can see it with the way she and Emma interact with each other now.
They have always cared for one another. They have always felt something for one another. For the last fourteen years, they were convinced it was hate, or in better terms, major dislike. But, really, it was the complete opposite of that. It was hidden love. A love that was obviously strong enough to have Emma by Regina's bedside for however long she was under that sleeping curse. A love that kept Emma there, even after Regina was woken from the curse. A love that might have very well woken Regina up from that curse in the first place. The flashback that would confirm her suspicion hasn't come yet, but there is no doubt in Regina's mind that Emma is the one that woke her from the sleeping curse. Emma is her true love. Her destined love. Regina has spent the last two weeks analyzing her every moment with Emma since they married one another. She has spent every moment analyzing her flashbacks. She has spent every moment analyzing her interactions with Daniel since his first visit to the cottage and replayed all of the things he said to her the day he broke off their relationship. Everything seems to be falling into place, yet, a confirmation has yet to come. She needs that confirmation. She wants that confirmation. She craves it. She craves the knowledge that will confirm that she, does indeed, belong to Emma, and that Emma belongs to her.
Who would have thought that Regina would feel this strongly for Emma White? Certainly not Regina, that's for sure.
"Hey, your mom brought us some bread and cheese for breakfast. Do you want that or would your prefer some porridge?" Emma asks as she comes in through the front door holding a tray of bread slices and various cheeses. Regina smiles at Emma and takes a few moments to study the blonde's face, admiring the way the sun creates a halo over her head and makes her green eyes twinkle brightly.
"The bread and cheese is fine." Regina tells her softly. Emma nods at her and smiles, walking over to the living room table to place the tray on the surface of it. She, then, walks over to Regina on the sofa and plops down on the spot next to her, dropping a kiss on top of Regina's head on her way down. "So what are our plans today?" Regina asks Emma as she picks up a piece of cheese, taking a bite of it.
"Well, Alexander and Archibald cancelled all our lessons for the next few weeks and your mom postponed our magic lesson until later this evening. So…we have a few hours to do whatever. What do you want to do?" Emma asks as she bites into a slice of bread, taking a sip of tea right after.
"Can we just stay in and talk? There's a lot of things I want us to talk about." Regina says quietly, biting her lip as she stares into Emma's questioning green eyes. Emma silently nods at her in agreement.
"Sure. What about?" Emma asks as she picks up another slice of bread to nibble on.
"I'll tell you after I have my bath." Regina says with a small smile as she gets up and makes her way into their bedroom, only to come back a few seconds later with her clothes and towel in hand.
"Have a good bath."
"I always do."
"I bet it'd be better if I joined you…" Emma mutters lowly, but not low enough. Regina whirls around and eyes Emma with a blush taking over her cheeks. Emma's eyes widen in panic when she notices Regina looking at her. A pink tint makes its way across her cheeks at Regina's bewildered look, so she uncomfortably clears her throat, looking anywhere but Regina. "You know, because…then we could have a splash fight….or something…" Emma amends weakly, causing Regina to raise a brow at her in disbelief. "Go take your bath, Regina." Emma says quietly, stuffing a piece of cheese in her mouth.
"Sure you don't want to join me?" Regina asks teasingly, a smirk now on her face, though the pink tint in her cheeks is still present. Emma's eyes widen at that, the cheese getting lodged in her throat at the suggestion, causing her to cough in an attempt to get the cheese out of her airway. Regina quickly makes her way towards Emma, patting her back roughly until the blonde is no longer choking. Emma wheezes out a quiet thanks. "Sorry, you kind of brought that upon yourself." Regina says with a giggle. Emma scowls at her, which only causes Regina to giggle even harder. Emma playfully swats Regina's butt which automatically causes Regina's mouth to shut and her eyes to widen in surprise.
"Go take your bath before I really do join you." Emma says daringly, smiling in delight at the dark blush coloring Regina's cheeks. Wordlessly, Regina picks up her discarded towel and clothes that fell off of her shoulder during her giggling fit, and turns around, marching out of the front door into the bathhouse without a backwards glance. Emma smirks in triumph at Regina's departed form and picks up her forgotten teacup, taking a sip of her, now, lukewarm tea. "Maybe next time she'll actually let me join." Emma mutters under her breath.
"Feeling clean?" Emma asks Regina as the brunette walks back into the house, her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and her towel draped over her forearm. Regina walks past Emma, ignoring her question and walking to their bedroom, only to come back into the living room a few seconds later, plopping down next to Emma on the sofa. "So…you're not feeling clean?" Emma asks jokingly. Regina rolls her eyes at her and smiles.
"I am. So…I think we need to talk now."
"Are you breaking up with me? Because I think it's a bit too late for that, 'Gina." Emma says playfully, causing Regina to roll her eyes at her again.
"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried. You're like an annoying fly that never stops buzzing around my ear. It's like, I try to swat you away but you just keep on coming back." Regina says with a playful huff.
"You love being near me and my abs, just as much as I love being near you and your dazzling smile." Emma says with a shrug, causing said smile to break out onto Regina's face. Emma smiles back at her and places a light kiss on her cheek. "Now, enough with this mushy crap, though I totally love it, but you said you wanted to talk. So, let's talk." Regina takes a deep breath and faces forward, locking eyes with Emma's.
"Well, first of all, I would like to say that I love spending time with you. Which is totally odd seeing as how I used to totally despise you...or at least, I let myself believe that I did. Now, I'm not so sure, but I think that I may want to keep you around a little while longer." Regina starts off jokingly, causing Emma to smile. "But anyway, let's get down to business. I just…. You know…. Um… Okay, listen, do you remember what you said about my mother putting a memory erasing spell on us four years ago because of a tragic event that occurred?" Regina starts off. Emma slowly nods, starting to see where this conversation is headed, but stays quiet, waiting for Regina to continue. "Have you been remembering any of the events that we've forgotten, by any chance?" Emma's eyes widen in surprise at that.
"What-what do you mean?" The blonde asks, treading lightly, wanting to make sure she knows where the brunette is going with this.
"I mean…have you been getting any flashbacks? Like, little flashes of our forgotten memories?"
"….yes. Have you?" Emma asks slowly. Regina nods.
"Yes. I started getting them the night of our first magic lesson with my mother. Right before bed. In my flashback, we were headed to bed together and your arms were wrapped securely around my waist. It wasn't much of a flashback, really, but it was definitely something I never thought I'd see our younger selves do in a million years. I had no clue what it was at first…but then, after the intense flashback I had like two weeks ago, I realized it was just that. A flashback." Regina says confusedly. Emma gulps at that and looks into conflicted brown eyes.
"That was my first flashback too. I had it right before I fully drifted off to sleep that day after our lessons with Cora…what did you see in that intense flashback?" Emma asks nervously, remembering very clearly the flashback she saw of Regina, unconscious in her arms. She shudders uncomfortably every time she remembers the look on her own, younger self's face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked down at younger Regina's sleeping form in helplessness. Emma's eyes glaze over as her breathing becomes labored, remembering the scene from her flashback. She misses the look of concern on Regina's face as she gets lost in her thoughts. Regina pats Emma's knee, snapping the blonde's attention back to her brunette companion. "I'm sorry, I was just remembering something."
"You were seeing the flashback of me after I took the sleeping curse, weren't you? You gave me the same look you were just sporting, the night I first got that flashback." Regina says softly. Emma nods slowly, not meeting Regina's eyes.
"It was horrific."
"I agree. Especially since I was the one under the curse. But what made that vision even worse was looking at you…you looked so helpless and scared and oh my god, Emma… it was painful to see." Regina said softly, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. When Emma sees a tear escape Regina's eye, she quickly brings the bad of her thumb to the brunette's cheek, wiping it away.
"I know, I know. I now understand why your mom put that spell on us. Sure, she should have given us the option of whether we want to remember or not, but at the same time…it's an awful memory to have."
"It is, indeed. Though, there are more than a few memories that I would like to have kept. 14 year old you was such a sweetie." Regina says sweetly, placing a kiss on Emma's flushed cheek.
"Well, 14 year old me was in love with you and wanted to spend every moment with you. Of course she was sweet."
"What about 18 year old you?" Emma smiles gently at the question and allows her eyes to connect to Regina's with an earnest expression.
"18 year old me is very much in love with you and wants to spend every moment with you. I guess that didn't change." Emma says sweetly, causing Regina's heart to burst in her chest. Emma leans in closer to Regina until her nose is brushing against the brunette's. Their eyes lock onto one another's in an intense stare. "I really want to kiss you right now." Emma whispers against Regina's lips. "Can I?" Regina nods and closes the distance before Emma could make a move. The moment their lips touch, they both see stars, Regina reaches her arms around Emma's back to pull her closer, holding her in place. Emma's palms Regina's cheeks gently, caressing the girl's face with the pad of her thumb. Regina deepens the kiss, swiping her tongue against Emma's bottom lip for entrance, which Emma automatically grants her. The kiss becomes passionate, their tongues brushing softly against one another's, occasionally exploring each other's mouths. Regina moves one arm from around Emma's back, lifting a hand to tangle into Emma's blonde tresses.
The kiss continues on for what seems like hours, but in reality, is only 3 minutes. When the need for air becomes too much, the two girls pull away from each other, their breathing heavy. Their eyes slowly flutter open, locking onto one another's gaze, their faces flushed. Before either girl gets the chance to open their mouths to say something, a memory flashes through their minds.
"Regina, you have to wake up." Younger Emma says helplessly, grasping Regina's hand in her own, the pad of her thumb brushing against the back of the brunette's hand. The blonde watches as Regina's chest rises up and down with each breath she takes, hoping more than anything that the brunette's eyes will open. But they don't. Emma unclasps one of her hands from Regina's and brings it up towards the brunette's pale face. She uses the pad of her thumb to brush Regina's cheek gently before bringing it up to brush a stray piece of hair behind the girl's ear. "I need you to wake up, Regina. Don't ask me why it's so important to me, just know that it is. Believe it or not, I actually really like you. We may fight a lot, but you are the closest thing I have to a friend. I don't want to live in a world where you don't exist. Who am I going to fight with if you don't wake up?" Emma asks Regina, waiting for an answer she knows she's never going to get. Emma sighs to herself and rests her forehead against she and Regina's clasped hands.
Emma lifts her head again and stares at Regina's pale face. An idea suddenly strikes her, one that she isn't sure will even work, but she has to try. She just has to. Emma slowly rises up from bedside chair and leans forward, her lips hovering over Regina's lips. For a split second, Emma hesitates, taking a deep breath to steady her wildly beating heart. Without wasting another second, Emma clumsily presses her lips against Regina's. A shift in the air occurs, causing Emma to pull back swiftly. Emma watches as the color returns to Regina's face, the brunette's eyes fluttering open and a gasp escaping the girl's throat. Tears threaten to spill out of Emma's eyes as she takes in the sight of the, now, awake Regina. Regina's eyes cut to Emma at the sound of a sniffle, her brown eyes softening at the sight of the distressed girl.
"Miss White, why are you crying?" Regina croaks out quietly. Emma smiles a watery smile at the girl and reaches behind her on Regina's bedside table, picking up a glass of water to offer to Regina. Regina slowly sits up and takes the glass from Emma, taking a slow slip from it. After a few more sips, she hands the glass back to the blonde, weakly smirking at the girl. "Pull yourself together, girl. Puffy eyes and a runny nose aren't a good look on you." Regina says jokingly, her voice still scratchy. Emma smiles at her and launches forward, wrapping her arms around the brunette, catching the other girl in a tight embrace.
"I missed you, Regina."
"No need to miss me, Miss White. I'm right here."
Emma and Regina stare at each other for a long moment, neither girl capable of breaking each other's gaze.
"I knew it." Regina says quietly, a small smile breaking out onto her face.
"Knew what?"
"You're my true love. We were meant to be together." The brunette says softly.
"We were." Emma agrees easily, a small smile breaking onto her own face. A few silent moments pass between the two girls, both girls staring at each other in amazement. It isn't until Regina opens her mouth that the true importance of this moment is acknowledged.
"Holy freaking shit."