"I know this is a lot to take in, Regina, I really do, but you have got to calm down honey. If you stress any harder, you'll give yourself an aneurysm and I don't think your wife is quite ready to be a widow." Cora says, half in amusement, half in panic. She had come to the cottage earlier in the evening, fully prepared to give the girls a new lesson in magic, expecting to come face-to-face with eager-to-learn expressions. But this…this, she was not expecting. After all of the progress that she and Regina had made in the last few weeks, she never thought she'd see the look of anger and distaste being thrown at her from her daughter again… at least, not this soon. The moment Cora came through the door, Regina pounced on her like a lion stalking its pray, piercing her with a gaze so sharp, she was surprised that she wasn't bleeding. Her daughter was always a feisty one. She obviously gets that trait from her, the compassion must have come from Henry.
"This is not a joke, mother!" Regina says in exasperation while pacing the floor, her hand tangling in her flowing brown locks, a look of exhaustion on her face. Cora looks at her daughter with a fond smile and shakes her head in amusement.
"Look, Regina, I understand that what I did to you all those years ago may seem a bit inconsiderate, but believe me when I say I was doing it for your own good. I didn't want you to be plagued by those awful memories. The Whites and I, as well as your father, thought it would be best if you and Emma continued living your lives as if nothing ever happened. We wanted you two to enjoy your youth and not have to worry about all of the dangers out there." Cora says softly and earnestly. Regina glares harder at her mother, her eyes turning into slits.
"What about the fact that you kept me from my true love for four years? All of this time, I had been so convinced that Daniel was the one for me. All of this time, I had been scared to feel anything for Emma, not even realizing that it was, indeed, okay for me to have feelings for her. Her being my true love and all! God, mother, could you have been any more inconsiderate. I understand that at the time, it may have seemed like a good idea to erase our memories. I get it. What type of parent would want their child to remember being attacked and put under a sleeping curse? But what you didn't seem to consider was: What parent would want their child to forget the great memories they had after said horrific event? Memories that involved finding their true love? I sure as hell wouldn't want my child to forget such a momentous occasion." Regina says with her hands placed on her hips, her chin stuck up in the air defiantly. Cora exaggeratedly exhales, walking over to the living room couch to take a seat.
"You and Emma would have found your way back to each other eventually. This, here, proves exactly that." Cora points out, gesturing around the cottage to drive her point further home. Regina rolls her eyes.
"Emma and I did not find our way back to one another. You, dad, and the Whites forced us to marry each other. Neither of us were here because of our own free will!" Regina argues back.
"Either of you could have runaway if being apart was what you really desired. There's a reason the stables are only a ten minute walk away from here, while Archibald and Alexander's cottage is 15 minutes away by galloping horse. Neither I, nor Snow, have guards checking up on you at all hours of the day. You guys are actually quite free out here, completely independent and free to make your own choices. I am fully aware of the Daniel debacle that occurred during our visit. I am fully aware that he came to see you while we were here and I am more than certain that he came to see you. Am I wrong?" Cora states with a raised brow, smirking at Regina's shocked expression. "If you really did want to be with him, you would have fought harder to be with him, you would have fought harder to leave with him. No one forced you to stay here and be with Emma. That was all you, dear. Sure, your dad and I, and Emma's parents, may have forced you two to get married in the first place, but you two decided to stay together…that was all you and Emma's doing. Actually, don't think of it as us forcing you both, think of it as us pushing you into the right direction. We did this for your happiness, both of yours." Cora assures. Regina's jaw drops at that. Her mother was right…absolutely right. This was absolutely disconcerting. Since when was her mother actually right about anything? All of this time, she had the choice to leave…no one would have stopped her….but she chose to stay. She wanted to stay. Well, that just puts things into a new perspective, doesn't it?
"She's got a point, Regina." Emma quips from the kitchen table. Regina turns towards her blonde companion's voice and blinks at her. She forgot that Emma was even in the room.
"See, Emma agrees with my reasoning." Cora says smugly.
"Actually, I agree with my wife. You were still in the wrong, Mrs. Mills. You should have asked for our permission first. It was our memories, after all, not yours, not your husband's, not my parents'. Just adding in my pieces of silver…" Emma says with a shrug. Regina flashes Emma a smile, which Emma returns. Cora rolls her eyes at the girls' interaction with a small smile on her lips.
"You're already agreeing with everything she says." Cora says with a chuckle, an eyebrow raised at Emma. Emma shrugs and smirks. "This is ridiculous. You two should be thanking me and Henry, and the Whites. We made sure you two would end up together no matter what. I fail to see why either of you are upset with me. "
"Of course you fail to see it. You think everything you do is right." Regina says with an eye roll. Cora scoffs at her.
"Of course I do. It's because I am always right." Cora says with her own eye roll. Emma watches in amusement as the mother and daughter pair get into similar positions, Regina and Cora simultaneously crossing their arms over their chests and rolling their eyes in a similar manner. Emma snorts out loud when she notices the two women wearing matching scowls. Emma doesn't think Regina realizes how much of her personality comes from her mother, though, the younger Mills is a lot kinder, sweeter, and more compassionate than her older counterpart, she's still managed to gain a few of her mother's physical and behavioral traits. It's quite hilarious to witness if Emma is being honest.
"Now, ladies, how about we just get on with our lessons for today?" Emma says, standing up from her seat at the kitchen table. Both women snap their heads towards the blonde, giving her an unreadable expression. Emma puts her hands up in mock surrender and slowly lowers herself back onto her chair. "Never mind then." She mumbles lowly.
"I don't get how you can act all high and mighty, all the time. Believe it or not, mother, you don't always knows what's best. What would have been best, was for you to let Emma and I keep our memories." Regina says. Cora rolls her eyes for the nth time that day.
"Are we still talking about this? Can we just move on to a different topic now? This argument is extremely futile. What's done is done, dear. I cannot turn back time and undo what I have already done, it is completely over with now, and I would like very much to move on from this pointless discussion."
"You think this pointless?! Mother—"
"That's enough, Regina." Emma says cutting Regina off. She has a feeling this argument could last the whole day if she doesn't put a stop to it, and that is something she really wants to avoid. Regina raises a challenging brow at Emma, which Emma quickly returns. "Look, I understand why you're mad, I do. But like your mother said, what's done is done. At least we're together now, right? Sure, we may have spent the last four years not knowing what we really meant to each other, but we know now, and I don't know about you, but it's better late than never, right?" Emma reasons. Regina huffs, her strong stance deflating. Emma walks over to Regina's standing form and stands behind her, wrapping her arms over the brunette's waist while she places her chin on the other girl's shoulder. "You're stuck with me for the rest of your life, Regina. Want to know why?" Emma asks in a teasing tone that Regina automatically notices. Without waiting for an answer, Emma continues. "You are stuck with me because I am your true love and you are mine. We're destined for each other. You get to live unhappily ever after with me for the rest of your life. Isn't that great?!" Regina turns around in Emma's arms and pins the blonde with a non-threatening glare.
"Shut up."
"Make me." Emma says back challengingly. Regina smirks at her and leans in, placing a chaste kiss on Emma's lips. A strangled gasp from behind the two girls breaks them apart, causing them to look at a wide-eyed Cora. "I forgot your mother was in the room." Emma whispers in amusement to Regina.
"So did I. Maybe if we kiss some more, she'll forget about our lessons and leave."
Cora rolls her eyes at the two girls before her. "I can hear you. And not a chance. Enough of this little love fest, let's get started."
"Your mom is a slave driver." Emma says as she flops down onto the bed with a groan, now changed into her nightgown. Regina soon follows after, landing stomach first on Emma, their fronts pushed together as Regina lays on top of her wife. Cora had the girls conjuring various items during today's lesson, she also had them work on making themselves, as well as other objects, invisible. So far, only Regina has successfully been able to make herself invisible, though, making herself visible again proved to be a difficult task. Cora had to help make her reappear. Emma, on the other hand, managed to make her right arm invisible, though, just like Regina, she had no clue how to make it reappear, so all in all, the lessons were a bit of a disaster. Cora definitely got a good laugh out of her daughter and daughter-in-law's lack of skill in the invisibility department. Emma and Regina were not as amused.
"I am beyond drained right now." Regina groans out. Emma lifts her arms to wrap around Regina's waist, holding onto the brunette tightly.
"Hopefully not too drained for this." Emma says sweetly as Regina lifts her head to stare into her green eyes. Emma pushes the falling strands of brown locks behind Regina's ear as leans forward, capturing the brunette's lips with her own. Regina hums in pleasure at the contact and deepens the kiss, immediately swiping her tongue against the blonde's bottom lip, seeking entrance. When entrance is granted, their tongues timidly brush against each other's, stroking against each together softly in a soothing rhythm. Emma's continues holding onto Regina's waist as she rolls them over, now occupying the space on top that Regina was occupying just a few moments prior. Regina moans into the kiss at the sudden movement and reaches up a hand to tangle in Emma's hair. Emma slightly pulls back from the kiss, taking Regina's bottom lip between her teeth, tugging at it softly and releasing it with a plop. The blonde smirks seductively at the look of want on her brunette companion's face and leans back in, recapturing the brunette's lips with her own. The kiss becomes heated, up until the point that the kiss has become all teeth and tongues. Emma pushes a thigh in between Regina's legs as the kiss continues, putting unknown pressure against Regina's core. Regina gasps into the kiss at the feel of Emma's thigh on her bundle of nerves, and unconsciously begins rocking into it. When the tightening in her lower belly begins to intensify, Regina's eyes widen in realization. She swiftly slides out from under Emma and rolls to the other side of the bed, putting as much distance between she and Emma as possible.
Still panting, Emma looks at Regina in confusion and panic. "What happened? Did I—Did I hurt you? I'm sorry if I did…I didn't mean to… I ju—"
"No, you definitely didn't hurt me…quite the opposite actually." Regina mutters lowly, her voice thick with lust, and her eyes as black as night. Emma continues staring at her in confusion, still trying to decipher what the brunette meant by her statement.
"What do you mean by that?"
Regina's cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. She looks into Emma's beautiful, but extremely confused, eyes and exhales a shaky breath. "I mean….when you um, when you put your thigh against my…um…" Regina trails off, watching as Emma's eyes widen in understanding.
"Oh, shit…yeah…sorry about that. I didn't….I didn't even realize that I put it…there." Emma mutters in embarrassment. Regina rolls back over to Emma after a moment and throws her arms around the blonde's torso. She, then, places a chaste kiss to the blonde's forehead.
"It's okay, really, it is. But I'm not…I'm not ready for that yet… I mean…I've never actually…you know and I mean, it's not that I don't want to, because I do, I just don't think now is the right time." Regina mutters, her cheeks resembling tomatoes at this point, and after taking a look at Emma, Emma's cheeks aren't fairing any better. Their cheeks could be twins right now.
"I'm not ready for that either…to be honest, you were my first kiss…so….um…yeah….but, like, when you are ready...you'll tell me, right?" Emma asks hesitantly. Regina places a kiss on the tip of Emma's nose as an answer.
"Of course." She says with a sweet smile. Emma takes that moment to pull Regina into her arms, wrapping her into a secure embrace.
"Let's get some sleep. Goodnight, Regina."
"Goodnight, Emma."