AN: I have no excusses. Enjoy!
Christmas meant a lot of things to a lot of people. Though the season went by many names, went by different traditions depending on the household, the feelings, the importance, was all the same. Covered in white, the citizens of Storybrooke stayed indoors, having decided that it was good as any time to start their Christmas, or whatever it was that they celebrated, traditions. For the residing members of Neverland that meant starting what was sure to be a rather eventful Christmas.
They started on the right foot. After spending two mornings out of their norm both Mary Margaret and all four girls were all too happy to go back to a routine that they could do with their eyes closed. Mary Margaret waking up early to start pancakes, the girls getting up under their own power, always in the order of Mulan, Ruby, Emma, and lag behind Tink. Since woken they became a united front of sorts, Mulan would start helping out as would Ruby, Emma would set the table and Tink who would sit down blurry eye and movements sluggish until after pancake number three would clean up afterwards, table and all.
Then they had the plan to take Ruby home. Ruby's stay with them was supposed to end the upcoming Monday even though Mrs. Lucas arrived Sunday, one very excited phone call proved it, but with the laps of winter break Mrs. Lucas wanted her granddaughter to spend some actual quality time with her friends, one more day until she had to return. So they all piled into Mary Margaret's Ford Country Squire and at what felt like five miles an hour and almost twenty minutes later made it to the Lucas' residence. Ice or no ice Ruby ran into the house and jumped into the arms of her waiting grandmother, who stumbled due to the sheer force even if she was prepared for it. Once everyone was inside Mrs. Lucas made an announcement that filled four teenage hearts with excitement and Mary Margaret's heart with dread, though there was joy.
Her offer, gingerbread decorating.
The Lucas' small kitchen was overwhelmed with baking sheets and cooling racks and plater upon plater of fresh baked cookies, the smell greeted them when they walked into the house and in turn made Emma's stomach growl even after eating her fill of pancakes not even an hour ago. It was a sight to behold, one that brought up Ruby's playful dramatic side when she faked sniff and announced that she was going to cry, she was very careful of her mascara when she checked her eyes to see if she really was going to cry. All four girls looked up at Mary Margaret, three brown and one pair of green eyes big and quivering lips, though Mulan could not exactly be called quivering, and in five seconds flat the English teacher went against her better judgement and agreed.
With an entire roll of parchment paper Mary Margaret and Mrs. Lucas were able to cover the entire face of Mrs. Lucas' dining room table where the girls sat, two to a side and almost bouncing like little kids in preparation for the first mountain of gingerbread men. Along with the platter they were given six Ziploc bags filled with icing; one red, one blue, one yellow, one green, and two white, two bowls of M&M's, and a variety of other small loose candies that were leftovers from Halloween. Just looking at the amount of sugar made Mary Margaret sweat in anticipation for what they would be like in the hands of the girls.
In actuality it started out swimmingly, the girls were actually decorating and not eating the loose icing and candy, their creations not bake shop perfection but was made up in the colorfulness and creativity. Mary Margaret was fascinated with what the girls could create, each design unique and yet it be said on who made what. Ruby's and Tink's designs were clean, a sign of a practiced hand, but while Tink's were uniformed in color of the icing and the candy Ruby's were seemingly random but the icing and the candy's color's seemed to match or complement each other. Mulan's and Emma's were sloppy compared to the others, with the icing tapering off, or not even sticking to the cookie, and faces crooked but there was effort and some enjoyment in what they were doing. Mulan's face was tense, eyes laser focus on the cookie in front of her, Emma's face was scrunched up nose wrinkling slightly, and there was just a peak of the edge of her tongue. She did something that gave everyone but Ruby and Mulan some pause which was she would tilt her head either to the left or to the right, her head almost made contact to the table twice, each time making Mary Margaret's heart pause for a moment or two. After the replay of the time she was away Mary Margaret was extra cautious of everything that Emma did, when explained it was apparently what Emma did when she played chess, the detail about Regina was left out and yet applied to Mary Margaret because the class president was the only person that she knew who Emma played chess with. It wasn't Emma who would stat the impending disaster but Mulan.
It was an accident, Mary Margaret didn't think that Mulan could do anything malice on purpose, or at least not to her friends, but none the less she was careless, or at least her elbow was, and that in turn made a trail of bright red icing air born and land in a thin ribbon across Tink's unsuspecting face. There was a pause and Tink with her one eye glare, the other was closed to prevent the icing from entering her eye, decided to fight back and toss a brown M&M at Mulan's head. Mulan deflected, an instinct that was just second nature to her, and it rerouted its course to Ruby, hitting her on the bridge of her nose. The red streaked brunette cried out an 'ow' though anyone doubt that the M&M could do any real harm to anyone, and since the real culprit was Tink and not Mulan she decided to take the very M&M that was thrown at her and stick it to Tink's icing covered forehead. The M&M stayed for a moment or two until it fell off, making its escape by sliding down the side of Tink's nose and on the side of her cheek before it made it to the floor, leaving behind a smear trail of red icing to signify the travel. In turn it made Ruby laugh, she earned a nice ribbon of blue icing because of it from Tink.
While the icing on Tink's face was thinned out and almost completely straight, the icing on Ruby was thicker and it curled more given the amount and the fact that it was coming from a deliberate action from the source. Tink's was an accident, Mulan's elbow both started and created a block, Ruby's was an intended act, the icing had an unobstructed path, and it showed with it being scrunched up around her nose and cheeks. Due to the weight the blob of icing slid down her face and Ruby tilted her head in time so the glob of icing would land onto the table, half covering the cookie she was decorating.
The end result? A good portion of her face was left blue with still a few smears of icing. All but a small part of her nose, the bottom part of her right nostril, was blue as was a good portion of her left cheek. Mulan laughed and laughed, it was the first time that Emma has ever heard her do so, and she between breaths managed to let out something that sounded like 'Lán liǎn' when she was finally able to put the pieces together. Not one to stand down Ruby took her revenge by squirting a good size of green ribbon at the laughing girl. Half of the icing ended up in or around Mulan's mouth, it stopped her laughter since she had to close her mouth before she ended up choking on the icing, the end of the ribbon tapered off and wrapped itself around the sharp edges of her chin and part of her neck. The only one left was Emma who was left untarnished except for the few pieces that were in her hair because of the close contact her head had with the table and Emma got a kicked out of it.
Together the color stain girls decided to complete the set, setting off a trail of yellow icing which landed all along Emma's neck and part of her chest. The dye in the icing partially separated, leaving permanent marks when Emma tried to remove the icing from her shirt, which wasn't a good idea since it caused it to smear making it worse than better. Picking up the white icing bag that she was using Emma pointed it at her roommates, curled her lip slightly and in her best western voice said, "Reach for the sky." Giggling, each of the girls put their hands up, they shook as they did.
"W-we s-sur-ender!" Their giggling increased, Emma could no longer hold the face and presumably surrendered with her roommates.
"Is everything all right in here girls?" Startled, all four girls tried to relieve themselves, but it was made hard as they watched a large glop of white icing fly in the air and land in the center of Mary Margaret's chest. All went silent when Mary Margaret gave off a faint gasp the moment the icing heavy material landed on her skin, it caused Emma who fired the shot to shake and the icing bag that she once pointed at her friends fell from her lifeless grasp. Mary Margaret looked up from her shirt to the icing stained girls, who all gave her these wide tight smiles that just screamed trouble, or more like they knew they were in trouble as Mary Margaret scrutinized over every single square inch of icing that covered them. "I hope the four of you know how much trouble you all are in." The four girls nodded and coursed 'sorry's in voices that were just a slight level above whispers.
There only saving grace was that their punishment was to be decided at a later date.
One benefit to the snow was that Emma was rotated every other day with Graham, the town didn't need the heavy matiness, just a check on the snow piles and of course patrol, so Sherriff Hunter only really need one of them at a time. On her day she went on patrol before going around on foot to check on her snow piles and to re salt the sidewalks, the roads were left to Sherriff Hunter. When she reached Regina's house she hesitated, she wanted to ask but what if Regina wasn't home and Cora or Zelena answered the door? Or worse she didn't want to play chess with her anymore? That was her biggest concern and it kept her standing there outside Regina's house like a creepy stalker for about five minutes.
A deathly silence clung to the air inside the Mills townhouse. Yes they weren't overly loud people but they did have some conversation, today was just not that day. Zelena refused to speak to anyone, she was still surly from what her mother put her though the past two days and Cora had long stop trying to make amends with her eldest daughter. It was better to wait it out and see what she wanted than to push it, which has become a family trait according to most. Zelena and Regina didn't talk at all unless they absolutely needed to, in fact Regina never really spoke to anyone, which was just how she was unlike her sister who was in a state of indignation. They were acting more like house mates than a family, together though doing separate things.
Regina had made a silent motion of claiming the kitchen as hers, she had about a dozen red apples left and she was still trying to figure out how to use them before they went bad. Making a pie was a given, that took eight apple at least and it would drastically reduce her numbers. The next step would be to figure out what to do with the remaining four.
"She's lurking." Both Regina and Cora stopped what they were doing, Regina still enquiring and Cora taking her first actual break from her office and moving some of her files downstairs to the dining room table, looking up from the one that she was reading.
"Who Zelena?" Zelena didn't say immediately, just smirked as she went into the kitchen, Regina's eyes following her every step, to get some water and a snack bar.
"Regina's puppy." The sculpt of Cora's eyebrow rippled as Regina's scrunched together.
"Don't call her that!" Regina huffed and looked out the window to in fact see Emma standing a few feet from their door, shivering and from her distance almost blue. "I'll be back." Downing her coat and her Mother's goulashes she opened the door, letting in a brisk wind that swept through the first floor of the townhouse.
"Who is out there Zelena?" Much to her carnage Zelena didn't answer her, just chuckle as she went back to the living room but moved her school work from the love seat to the couch, her intentions were clear, she wanted to watch what about to transpire. Cora sighed and faintly rolled her eyes before getting up from her chair to see who it was exactly that was outside her house and has pulled her daughter out into the cold.
It amazed her the power that Ms. Emma Swan seemed to have over her youngest.
Emma did not expect Regina to actually come out of her house the second she worked up the courage to walk up to the door. She attempted to move, wanting to meet Regina at least half way, but her jeans were stiff, frozen from her just standing there. When she tried to move she slightly lost her balance but not enough to actually fall or anything, just a light stumble which she was glad for. Regina rushed the last few steps to Emma so that she could take the blonde's elbow as a helping agent.
"Are you all right Emma?" With both feet on the ground Emma gave her her usual large grin, the edges of her teeth peaked out just on the edges of her lips, it made her emerald green eyes shine in the winter afternoon.
"Fine, but I feel bad just standing here outside your house like a creepy person."
"That quite all right but could I help you with something?" Emma's smile faltered and her already flushed cheeks turned even brighter, the color patchy with pink and red. She adverted her gaze, eyes turned down to look at the edge of the sidewalk, and she grounded in her heel.
"I was wondering if I could, possibly, play a game or two of chess with you? I know its last minute but Sherriff Hunter let me go early after I finished salting, which I did! I did your block close to the end and I checked with him before I left so you…don't…have… to…" Regina brought a finger up, the appendage scarcely an inch from her lips.
"I had to stop you there for I feared you wouldn't make any sense. Yes, I would love to play some chess with you but before I do I need to finish something that I think you could help with."
"Sure!" That big goofy grin was back on her face, bigger than the last time, and with the combination of the grin and her shivering it was like as though Emma was this one big puppy. Regina mentally shook that though out of her head the second it came, the last thing her sister needed was encouragement. Emma followed Regina into the house, she had to stop a few times because Emma would find herself a few almost on top of Regina. "Hello Zelena." Emma nodded at Regina's sister, who instead of answering her verbally gave her a grin that was just borderline smirk and a slight wave of her hand. She was going to do the same with Cora but stopped when she noticed that the older woman was on the phone and in the middle of a tense conversation. It wasn't to say that Cora completely ignored her, when Emma stepped into her line of sight she gave her a slight nod, which Emma returned before putting some space between herself and the kitchen, which was where Regina led her to. "So what is this problem that I could help you with?"
"You can help me figure out what I can do with the remainder of the apples that I have left when I make my pie. As my volunteer test taster I figured that I give you a treat before we start with the real thing."
"I like where this is going."
"Good. Now here are your choices." Having reached for a card organizer Regina pulled out three cards, turning them so that Emma could read each one side by side. Emma automatically recognized Regina's handwriting having memorized and secretly kept the note cards that the class president have given her when they were working together for Mr. Golds project. Like with the note cards Regina's handwriting showed a practice and calculated composition, the scripture legible and the style uniform in order of what needed to be done; ingredients, pre and post baking set up, and preparation. With the light and the stark white counter top Emma could see faintly the back of cards, little additions that Regina might have put down like little tidbits. The recipe cards that Regina put in front of her were for a turnover, a cake, and a strudel, all apple flavored of course. They were all so tempting, each having its own appeal, and so her decision had to be calculated.
Strudel and turnover were both fillings, meaning that just like the pie the apples and major flavoring would be concentrated into the gooey caramel brown known as the center, so did she want that on top of the pie? And how did she even know she was going to get pie on top of the treat that Regina was willing to make her? The cake was almost like a bread such as banana bread, which could become a great breakfast option for when she was in a rush or something to share with Mary Margaret so that she could have a treat with her coffee. On the issue of servings the cake was the one that served the most at 12 which could be divided into either three per person when split between all four of them or four per person when just between her and her roommates which would probably happen. It's what happen at Thanksgiving when Mary Margaret made sure that all of the teenagers had food before even serving herself, even when the bowl was passed or she was asked directly she would always bring it back to them, it was a little annoying but touching. So strudel might be the best option, it only served six but the issue of Mary Margaret taking herself out, which she kind of didn't want. Now that she thought about it turnover would be even better, serving eight which meant that it had to be divided into four, two a piece, and no one was left out. Plus it gave the texture of pie, which was what Emma really wanted. So she picked up that card, turning it to show Regina.
"Is that your final decision?" Throughout the entire thing Regina watched Emma with rapt attention. Though her options were limited on the number of apples that she was positive were going to be left over, it was like a life or death situation for Emma. The blonde looked over every single letter on each of the cards, eyes slowly scanning each one. What Emma did that infuriated her was that the blonde would gently touch one of the cards, moving it slightly out of line with the others and hold it there for a moment or two before lining it again. Every time it would make her breath hitch and her heart stop for a fraction of a second, her shoulders tensed, ready to spring into action with Emma's decision, but when the card was placed back she would tense up even more before relaxing slightly. She wanted it to be absolutely clear that this was Emma's final decision, which meant she would start setting out the ingredients for this specific recipe and there would be no turning back.
"Yes." Regina took back the other two recipe card and placed them back into the rolodex, putting them back where they were supposed to be, the strudel in the S section and the cake in the C section. To make it final she placed the rolodex in the one drawer in her kitchen that held no real purpose but to hold supplies that they might need on quick hand like scissors and some markers.
Then like a busy bee Regina went to work.
Step number one for Regina was getting the oven ready, she could do her preparations during that time so that the filling wasn't sitting there for longer than necessary. Though the pie was first for the sheer reason that it cooked at a lower temperature than the turnover, the oven temperature for the pie was 375 while turnover was 400, the ingredients were the same; apples, of course, flour, butter, some lemon juice, a little salt, eggs, and sugar just to start with. The ingredients were pushed to a corner of the island, splitting the surface into two parts. On the free side of the island Regina set down a metal pie tin, a large metal bowl, and a smaller glass bowl.
In the larger bowl she placed 2 cups of flour which she measured using a white plastic measuring cup and ¾ stick of butter. With a fork Regina hand blended the ingredients until the butter created small balls with the flour. She handed the set of measuring cups out to Emma, handing her directly the second smallest one that only said Tbs. Emma looked at the spoon then to Regina, eyebrows knotted together.
"What is this?"
"It's a tablespoon, I figured since your just standing there doing nothing I make you useful. I need five tablespoons of water before I can start kneading the dough. Sinks behind you and make sure it's cold." Emma knew that only because she had been leaning against the stainless steel surface, creating a cold spot on her lower back. Gently Emma lifted up one of the handles, she barely moved it but she figured it didn't take much to fill a tablespoon. The other measuring cups rattled against the edges of the sink as she put the tablespoon under the practically dribble of water. When she had what she wanted she gingerly carried it back over to where Regina was and with a slight nod from the class president placed it into the bowl. It became a pattern, Regina would look up at her, she would get the small amount of water, place it into the bowl, and Regina would continue mixing. At five she set the measuring cups back with the other ingredients and though it earned her a soft grunt of disapproval she looked into the bowl. The once loose white mixture was now a faint yellow clump with some white swirls here and there. In other words it was dough.
Reaching into the flour sack that was on the ingredients side of the island Regina coated a good portion of her side and her hands in the white dust. Regina's shoulders and arm muscles rippled and tightened and her fingers worked to shape the dough until it formed a large ball. Taking some more flour she coated the entire surface of the ball before placing it back on the counter. With a knife she cut the ball in half, keeping one half on the counter in front of her and wrapping the other half on a layer of plastic wrap before placing it in the fridge. With a rolling pin that was coated in flour the ball of dough that was kept out was flatten into a thin oddly shaped sheet, to Emma it kind of reminded her of the bruise below her left shoulder blade. The sheet of dough was then layered on top of the pie tin, Regina gently pushed along the sides of the tin to make sure the dough was pressed against each side, being extra careful to not make any tares or weak spots. Satisfied, Regina then gently peel the edges of the crust so that it lined with the pan before putting the whole thing in the fridge.
Next came the best part; the filling.
One by one Regina painstakingly peeled eight of her twelve apples, the skins splitting from the flesh in long, thin, red curly ribbons that Emma picked up once it fully landed onto the counter, munching on them from end to end. After that Regina took a small rounded tool that was half silver, which was the blade, and half black, the handle, and proceeded to core the apples, each one came out, seeds and all. Then Regina took the same knife that she used to peel the apples to cut them up into little dice like pieces, putting the small apple chunks into the small glass bowl. In the same bowl she added the sugar, white and brown, at 1/3 a cup, a pinch of salt and nutmeg, 3 tablespoons of flour, and cinnamon. The cinnamon made Emma's mouth almost drool, her green eyes widen and she subconscious lean a little closer to the bowl, Regina rose an eyebrow and pushed the bowl a little closer to her own body to prevent fly away hairs from getting in. Lemon juice was the last thing that she added, pouring it along the side of the bowl, before mixing the ingredients together and putting the bowl in the fridge next the pie tin. As a precaution she put the cinnamon back where it belonged, the last thing that she needed was for Emma to sneak the entire jar and eat it.
When Regina came back to the counter she had the ball of dough that she had wrapped in plastic earlier in her hands. Applying some more flour onto the counter and the rolling pin she slowly rolled the ball of dough out until it formed an almost perfect rectangle with the longest edges going vertically. Then with a knife, thinner than the one that she used to divide the dough and cut up the apples, she made thin stripes, Regina's movements were steady and her gaze hard, almost frozen. That was Regina's way of thinking, while Emma was movement Regina was still, almost to a point that she became a statue except for the fact that she breathed. When it was done a wave of relief seemed to wash over her, her shoulders fell heavily from the tension that they let go of when Regina exhaled deeply.
The three pieces that she needed were now complete, now all that was left was for them to meet.
Taking out the pie tin and the filling form the fridge she combined the filling to the soft shell, the once clear lemon juice now a murky brown having absorbed what the apples didn't take in immediately, with a flat edge of a spoon Regina made sure that the apple filling was spread evenly among the entire tin. With a tiny glass bowl, a brush, and an egg she cracked the white shell before mixing it with the brush and then coating the edges of the crust with the yoke. With careful precision she took five of her stripes and gently pressed one of the ends into the crust, making sure each stripe hade the space it needed before gently placing it down across the circumference of the pie. Then one by one she picked up another stripe, again pressing the edge down but weaved it in with the first five that she placed on the pie. It was painstaking work but when she was done she was left with an expertly crafted woven pie top.
With one more coating of egg, this time on the top, and some sugar and cinnamon that she quickly grabbed from it place she put the pie in the oven, set the timer for 45 minutes to start with, she closed the oven door with an accomplished smile. Undoing the knot of her apron she slowly turned to her guest who was just starting to become fidgety and with a smile that both made Emma's blood run cold and her heart to skip a beat she asked in a voice that was just a smidge octave lower than her natural tone, "So…about that chess game?"
Emma just nodded stupidly and followed Regina out of the kitchen.
Two and a half chess games later the pie was ready to be taken out of the oven, the smell of warm apples and cinnamon clung to the open air of the lower part of the Mills' townhome. Emma nearly fainted from the smell, this must be one of the pies weapons because it called to her stomach like a piper, making it growl almost on command. Armed with a pair of red oven mitts Regina removed the pie, setting it on the window ledge that looked out to the street that Emma had cleared of snow and salted on two separate occasions, letting both the cool glass and the wafting heat from the oven to create a steady cooling.
Now for a greater challenge, the turnovers. Unlike the pie which was one large piece the turnovers would be made into smaller pieces, the measuring of the ingredients had to be more accurate to ensure that each piece wasn't getting too much or too little of one element.
Like with the pie she started with the crust. In the same bowl that Regina made the pie crust, just washed out, she combined 2 cups of flour, ¼ cup of water, a pinch of salt, and ½ cup, meaning an entire stick, of butter. Before she placed the butter into the bowl she put it in a small plastic pouring cup after having cutting it up into smaller chunks and pooped it into the microwave for 30 seconds. She did this twice before pulling the now melted butter into the bowl with the rest of the powdered ingredients. With a spatula she mixed everything together, almost folding the slowly hardening mass to get it all together. When every last speck was turned into the light color dough she set it aside for the next task.
The filling for the turnover was drastically different from the pie, instead of just combining the apple chunks with the dry ingredients the apples had to be sautéed, the difference between cool and heat, though it started the same with her cutting the apples into smaller chunks, this time she just handed Emma the skins, she batted at them like a cat would with string when she held it up in the air. With a pan that was hanging above the oven she set it on the front burner, turning the nob in front of her to start a slow gentle flame. Before adding anything to the pan she placed 2 teaspoons of butter on the warm surface, letting it melt, and slowly tilted the pan to the sides and up and down to make sure all of the edges were greased. That was when the apples could be added in, they gave a faint sizzle when they came into contact with the hot metal surface. Though it was not recommended Regina liked to flip the apple pieces, not to spread up the process but to prevent one side from getting browner then the other. After about five minutes or so she gently poked an apple from a different part of the pan, along the sides and the center, with a fork, the metal prongs going through the flesh like soft butter. The softness meant that she could add the ¼ cup of brown sugar, it caused a new set of sizzling and cracking that kept up as she stirred the apples to ensure that every single piece was getting some of the added sugar. She let them be for three minutes before shutting off the heat source, deeming them ready to meet the soft dough, transferring them to a waiting glass bowl to cool. There badge of honor was the shake of cinnamon, which was getting a pain to get down and put away every time she needed it.
With yet more flour on her hands, counter, and rolling pin she shaped the dough so that it made an almost perfect rectangle. Now can the most difficult part of all, cutting it just right so that no one piece was bigger than another or that it was too small that she could not fold it and seal it properly without it bursting open when it baked. With a thin knife she made her first cut, keeping both her hand steady and the line as straight as possible. The next step was to make squares big enough that she could add a decent amount of filling to create a good proportion of pastry and filling. Using a small spoon she placed some filling in, not the center but just below it, the newly cut square, folding it closed by pressing the edges together with the edge of a fork. Each square that she completed she placed on a baking sheet that was taken out when she started to use the oven and was lined with wax paper on Emma's final word. With a toothpick she poked three small holes on top of each turnover, slicing slightly so that the holes would be just slightly larger. All that was left to do was to coat each turnover in a glaze that was made out of an egg, a tablespoon of water, and teaspoon of sugar before putting them in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
In the meantime it was back to playing chess.
A minute before Emma could be called late she entered the apartment with a still warm plastic container under her arm. She ended up walking away with seven pieces of the absolutely best apple turnover in earth.
After the turnovers have been taken out of the oven and left to cool for ten minutes Regina set one on a small plate, giving the pastry a light sheet of powder sugar. She cut off one corner with a fork, expertly cutting through the entire desert and turning the fork on one of its outer prongs to make sure she was getting everything. On one elbow she leaned across the counter with that same heart stopping smile on her face.
"Open." Emma gulped, her heart beating in a way that she felt it against her chest. Her lips quivered as she opened her mouth to wrap her lips around the fork that was offered to her. Her teeth and tongue barely touched the stainless steel before it was set into a state of pure bliss. She would not believe that solid apple could melt had it not happen on her tongue, the soft flesh seemed to disintegrate the second they met. No one flavor dominated the other, she automatically tried to seek out the cinnamon but it was always met with crisp on the apple, a flake of pastry, and the linger of the brown sugar. All of this happened in a matter of seconds but it was a second that Emma would cherish for the rest of her life.
"God Regina that was amazing!" Regina's smile became that of a mixture, it still held the same almost smugness that it once had but something else, like happiness or bashfulness, was trying to come out.
"Thank you Emma. I'm glad that I could prove that I'm not a complete failure when it come to the kitchen."
"I never said you were a failure." They looked at each other, Regina's eyes had this swirl of light, like as though she was trying to push something back and was struggling to do so. Emma's had warmth, it brought out the lighter green in her eye. "Did you want to split it?"
"No. No thank you. I made this for you so don't feel obligated to share it."
"Well, I already am so I see no problem in sharing this with you." Again a brilliant Regina Mills smile, matched with her own. It then became a race to the finish, they both ate where they wanted instead of simply cutting it in half and eating their respectively parts. No matter how hard she tried Emma could not get everything together in one bite, something always fell off her fork rather it be an apple chunk, part of the crust, or half of the bite as a whole. Regina would snicker slightly before swooping in and stealing what Emma was not able to capture immediately. Emma tried to enact revenge by stealing Regina's perfect bites by redirecting her wrist, ignoring how her palm felt like as though it was on fire with the energy running through it, to or in her direction, but if it was one thing that Regina took seriously it was apples. It didn't help her that she coated her nose in caramel filling and streaked her cheek with powder sugar, Regina took the pad of her finger and wiped the filling off her nose. Emma watched as the finger slowly disappeared, coming out a second later, lingering only a fraction of a moment on the brunette's full bottom lip.
Zelena scoffed at them when she came in to return her water glass, calling them disgustingly boring with their oblivious fancy. Emma had absolutely no idea what she was talking about but Regina went red in the face, anger or embarrassment she couldn't tell but she wasn't going to risk it. A threatened Regina was one to not take lightly and she announced that she needed to take her leave.
Which was how she was able to present Regina's homemade turnovers to her roommates and supervisor who looked at them with a mix of caution and curiosity but just like with her after the first bite it was magic. Emma just wished that her shares hadn't gone so fast, but still totally worth it.
When the door softly closed behind Emma Regina stormed into the living room where her sister reclaimed her old spot in the love seat, long legs stretched out and book in her lap. Zelena was more than aware of her sister looming over her, if it wasn't for the shadow blocking the passage she was reading it was the anger that practically roll off the younger girl.
"Can I help you?" Zelena just looked up at her sister, blue eyes bright from the lamp next to her and her face neutral, which just further to tick Regina off more.
"What the hell do you think you are doing!?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"That fancy thing, I resent that implication that I 'fancy' Ms. Swan."
"And yet here you are calling her Ms. Swan. Did you know that when we were forced to stay in that cracker box of an apartment she was the only one you called by name other than myself?"
"Your point?"
"Nothing." Zelena stood up, taking her book with her and started for the stairs.
"That's it. That's all you have to say?" Turning on her heel, Zelena rested one hand on the banister of the staircase while the other was still curled on her book which rested on her slightly cocked hip.
"That is my point. I'm getting 'nothing' because every single comment or question that I ask you deflect which you only do on one particular subject. Besides, I never said it was you who was fancying Ms. Swan, you filled that in for yourself." With that she was gone, leaving Regina alone and frustrated. If Zelena wasn't talking about her then she must have meant Emma. Did Emma, as Zelena stated, 'fancy' her? She knew the blonde liked her in whatever way but 'fancy' was deferent, it was greater. And what about her? Why did she automatically think that Zelena was talking about her? And why did this make her so scared?
The next day was so wrong on so many levels.
To start with Mary Margaret woke the three that were in her charge like she would if they were back at school, yelling, a cup of water to one Ms. Tink Bell, breakfast small, almost portable, before she pushed them out the apartment door and into the car. They at first drove to the Lucas' residence, the girls taking the supposed hint started to get out of the car thinking that their guardian was gearing up for some 'alone time' with her 'girlfriend' which Emma was a little peeved at, not because of the short notice but because she wasn't informed and could've possibly set up some chess time with Regina at the Lucas residence. She figured that since all three of her roommates knew about the chess games she could schedule the times more openly. However, instead of them getting out of the car it was Ruby who exited her house with half of her face hidden behind the large red hand knitted scarf that her grandmother made her years ago, almost nine according to Ruby, and the red streaked brunette took the only free space available, next to Tink behind the passenger's seat which was occupied by Mulan.
Then they were dragged to do the one thing that teenagers wanted to be with their parents or any adult; clothes shopping.
The reason as to why was always carefully dodged by Mary Margaret, the only one who knew not only the why but what she wanted. Her vision was laser focus, picking out outfits and items that she believed would be perfect for one or all four girls, which made them groan. It became quickly obvious that this wasn't a normal clothes shopping but Christmas clothing shopping, meaning it was filled to the brim with reds and greens and multiple representation of Santa Clause, reindeer, Christmas trees, or snowflakes, some had more than one which made them scarier. And of course at the heart of all Christmas shopping, rather it be for men, women, children, or teenagers, was the dreaded ugly Christmas sweaters, front and center. Once simple yarn, it was crafted into large bulky garment that were the favorite of old people and butt end of every Christmas joke. They were unflattering with their unshapely frames and big bold patches. Ruby had to be all but dragged into the epicenter where Mary Margaret all but squealed in delight and ran to, Mulan's grip on her waist was strong and unwavering, no matter how much Ruby clawed at her arm.
Emma and Tink stood not next, the last thing they wanted was to get hit by Ruby's flying limbs, but near, watching almost from the side lines. No matter where they looked there was a sweater sporting am almost cartoon like character of some sort of Christmas symbol. There was one that caught Emma's eye, it was a green similar to the icing that they used to decorate cookies and paint Mulan's face, medium in shade but vibrant, an almost classic Christmas green. On the front was a knit in image of a reindeer, it looked almost lopsided to her with its mismatched antlers, the one on the left almost curled unnaturally toward the other one that had thee stubs on the side, one on the inside and two on the out. The reindeer had a big red nose, it was bigger than both if its bitty black eyes put together. Gingerly Emma picked the sweater up from where it was laid on a table and in two quick steps sneaked up behind Tink.
"Merry Christmas Tink!" Emma threw the sweater on Tink's head, making sure that the design was in place for her roommates face. Tink grunted and clawed at the sweater on her face, the static electricity made the fly away strands of wavy dirty blonde hair from her bun to stick out in several directions, mainly up. Recovered from her attack via sweater Tink turned to glare to Emma, growling low in her throat.
"What the hell Emma!" Balling the sweater she threw it back at her roommate, it unraveled itself midair and it spaced itself half across Emma's face with one sleeve going over her head and the other half across her shoulder.
"Lighten up Tink it was meant to be a joke." Tink just huffed and crossed her arms tighter across her chest. Emma placed the sweater back where she found it, she was less than neat about it but she partially didn't care and thought that it added some character to the sweater.
"Yeah Tink it could have been worse, like this." Both Emma and Tink looked with mouths slightly agape as Mulan took a sweater with her free hand and put it over Ruby's face. The sweater was black, just as shapeless as the one Emma put on Tink but it earned points in creativity with its gingerbread house and surrounding tiny pieces of candy. In the door way of the house was a tiny gingerbread man with his own little hat and scarf. The design lacked depth as it was made out of simple shapes, giving it a cookie cutter feel. Ruby liked it less than Tink and all but tore the sweater off her head, Emma swore she heard a ripping sound but was never sure.
Along with the sweater came Ruby's precious scarf that before she could make a dive for Tink scooped up and walked further out of Ruby's reach. Like a matador she waved the scarf in the air, teasing and lying in wait. Ruby squirmed, almost trying to wiggle herself out of Mulan's grip, which was only good for her to knock into things. Changing tactics she decided to use whatever strength she had in her legs to push herself forward. Mulan gritted her teeth and tried to push all her weight to her lower body, but that only prove to dig her heels even further into the ground and to wear the heel of her sneakers. She severely contemplated in letting the red streaked brunette go but for Tink's sake she better not dare. Tink made it to the outer aisle before she bumped into something, or more like someone.
"There you are girls. Tink give Ruby her scarf back so we can leave." Finally free Ruby stomped over to where Tink was and snatched the scarf back, automatically wrapping it around her, almost nuzzling it for good measure.
"You still haven't told us what the point to this spontaneous shopping trip Mary Margaret."
"Trust me you'll see." For some reason that answer did nothing but unsettle Emma further.
The saying 'it could always get worse' could not be more true for the young members of Neverland than at that very moment. After having been dragged back into the false hood of sanctuary known as their apartment, Mary Margaret handed the girl all but one of the bags that she walked away with from their brief yet terrifying shopping venture before pushing them all up the stairs to get changed.
In the privacy of their room the girls circled the bags that Ruby had placed in the center of the room each one not daring to move or even touch them. One girl would look at another, who would then look at the one on her other side, hoping to see something different other than question. With a shaky hand it was Mulan who reached for one of the bags, moving the flap of the paper bag slightly before turning it back down and presenting it to Tink.
"You first." Trying to form protest yet not being able to, Tink lifted the flap herself, seeing her name on a post it note in Mary Margaret's very own hand writing. Grumbling she took the bag and herself to the bathroom to change. What followed after was the most terrifying thing that any of them had ever heard.
Concerned, Mary Margaret rushed upstairs, she herself half-dressed but decent, and breathlessly asked, "Is everyone alright?" The door slowly opened to reveal Tink, who was shaking in fright. She was dressed in a dark green velvet dress with a square neck line, faux white fur lined the edges of her sleeves and helm of her dress. Below her bust was a ribbon that at the center tied into a neat little bow at the center, the knot was in cased with a circle of rhinestones. To complete the look was a pair of crisp white stockings. The others looked at her in bafflement. "Good Tink you're dressed, could you please take your bag and meet me at my vanity?" More breathless stuttering before doing what she was told, hugging the bag to her chest like a life line though it spelled her doom.
"Mary Margaret-"
"No questions, just get dressed, we're in a hurry." Letting Tink go first the two went downstairs, they disappeared and the game of roulette was on again with the remanding three.
In order their doom was spelt out as Emma, Ruby, and last Mulan.
Crying children, cheese props and backgrounds, big black lights, and camera flashes could only spell one thing; photo studio.
At the sight of the plastic props and backgrounds that belonged in bubbly children's cartoons the girls groaned and wanted nothing better to do then run away, but Mary Margaret was always behind them, leading them to where she wanted them to be. When they entered the studio Mary Margaret ushered them to a the far off corner where a Christmas tree decorated very much like a photo with colorful lights, big ornaments, and gold garland stood in its stand while she talked to a man behind the flashing camera.
Tucked in the corner were the Mills sisters, sitting on the same love seat but their bodies as far away as they can make them, legs crossed tightly and knees pointed in opposite directions. Unlike them, the Mills sisters had some class and grace to their outfits. Zelena wore a dark green dress shirt, the sleeves kind of tapered away from her arms. The tops scarf like ends, tied into a loose bowtie that held her pendant, were draped over the opening of the black leather vest that she matched with a leather pencil skirt. It was all completed with a black trilby hat on top of her neatly tied back hair, solid black stockings, and black stiletto heels. Regina was the red to her sister's green with her red straight line dress that rippled a little at her bust and shoulders and her collar laid flat like a dress shirt. What had Emma almost drooling was the slit that started at the small clasp collar to almost touching where her bra might have started. Like her sister she wore a pair of black stockings, black stilettos, and almost identical look of scorn. Zelena took one look at them and busted out laughing.
Compared to the Mills sisters the girls of Neverland looked like clowns. Ruby wasn't any better off as Tink dress wise, hers was the same velvet like material but in red, the only thing that probably stopped her from tearing it apart. Her dress had the same white cuffs around the hem and sleeves but around her waist was a thick white ribbon, the bow just on the edge of her left breast and in the center of her chest where these folds of fabric. Ruby's and Tink's hair was done almost identical, the difference only made because Ruby's ruby hair was straightened while Tink's was curly. They were both fitted with their own thick headbands, the thick material coordinating with the color of their dresses and had a bow on the right side.
Mulan and Emma had it better in the simple fact that they were wearing pants. Down to their hairstyle Emma and Mulan were virtually identical with their red, green, and white checkered dress shirt that was underneath the solid red and green sweater vests. Unlike Tink and Ruby who were one color, red or green, Mulan and Emma went back and forth, embodying both colors in alternate. While Mulan's vest was red in color, her shirt's pattern had green, Emma's vest was green so her shirt pattern had red. It was the same with their stripped bow ties, red and green with the red one going to Emma and the green one going to Mulan. Their outfits were completed with a pair of khaki pants and black loafers.
Though not as amused as her sister Regina's original scorn look turned to a large grin, her lips quivered as she tried to prevent the upturning of her lips. With one hand hovering her mouth, knuckle against cheek, she used the other as a gesture to what was going on with Emma and her friends, her eyes following the rise and fall of her hand. Emma could only answer with her own silent gesture, a slight shrug of her shoulder.
Off on her own Tink circled the tree that rested in its own little tree stand/ water bowl in its own little corner, partially entranced with her reflection in the shiny glossy surface of the large colorful ornaments. Her reflection in three different colors at once; red, green, blue, stretching out in odd places like her forehead, eyebrow, or chin. Unknowing to her Ruby came up behind her, poking her shoulder in an out of the blue attack. In a quick turn to strike the next blow, she had in mind a light slap or a small flick, her shoulder brushed against the branches of the tree, knocking off one of the ornaments. The ornament bounced off the branches and other ornaments, the only difference being the volume of the clinking of the fallen ornament.
"I got it!" Diving for the ornament at the same time the two girls crashed together, Ruby's shoulder digging into Tink's chest, creating a larger mass that needed to squeeze in the too small space between the wall and the tree. The only logical conclusion was for one of the barriers, the tree or the wall, to move. The wall won and the looser, the tree, fell in defeat. However, before it could it was saved by Mulan, embracing the tree despite the pointy needles, sap, the itchy garland, and the hooks of the ornaments that clung to the branches for dear life, her rescue effort was rewarded by a splash of water from the water bowl. The ones that did fall either went to irritate Ruby and Tink by hitting them before touching the floor or went to play a game of chase with Emma who hunted the shiny colorful balls like an egger puppy. Back and forth she went collecting one or two as they rolled passed her to place them in Regina's unsuspecting lap, the reason why was unknown and lost. Once Ruby and Tink came back up, now covered in loose pine needles and in Ruby's case slightly wet with tree water, Mulan was finally able to set the tree back down, keeping close by despite hovering so that she can make adjustments to ensure that the tree would stand straight under its own power if not leaning slightly to the wall.
Next was to redress the tree, making it presentable at the very least if they could not recapture the picturesque decorating. Replacing the ornaments took a balance act, the wrong place would expose the now half snapped branches or make the leaning of the tree worse. Mulan's solution was to tighten the screws a little more on the adjacent side where the leaning seemed to be worse, Emma helped her balance the tree as she did so. For a minute or two as Mulan step away the tree seemed to be doing fine on its own, and then there was this dull yet strong like crack, the tree snapped, falling in the direction of the love seat before rolling to the floor, the Mills sisters were lucky in scrambling off of the love seat before that happened. Out of some deep instinct Emma went to step behind Regina, the sheer force of her block almost made her stagger but for once her footing was strong and with just a slight touch to the class president stabilized them both. However, Emma had misjudged the aim of her hand, so instead of landing on Regina's elbow, shoulder, or her last resort hip, her hand had zone in on Regina's breast. To make it worse Emma found it almost glued onto the fabric of Regina's dress and it hit Emma as to why; the culprit was sap. In her tight hold Regina squirmed, trying in any attempt to free not just her breast from Emma's stuck hand but her arm from the tight space that was created by their bodies.
"Ms. Swan remove your hand this instant." Regina's face scrunched and developed a reddish tint that seemed to spread the more she moved. Embarrassment was Emma's first guess as to why, the more the class president squirmed the more she moved the material of her dress, causing more of a rift between the free material and the stuck, the slit was tugged and moved, exposing more than what the class president intended. In turn it cause an internalized panic inside of Emma, the last thing she wanted was to cause trouble for anyone especially for Regina but she couldn't help the fact that her hand was stuck and the only solution that she could think of was to physically rip her hand off, which might cause even more of a problem.
They were saved by the bell so to speak when Mary Margaret returned, Cora hot on her heels, and both stopped dead when they saw what had happened in the short time they were away. Mary Margaret's girls were covered in pine needles, two of them water stain, creating ugly green blotches when the water dried, disheveled and in all but Mulan's case panicky. Zelena was curled against a wall, laughing to the point of tears while Regina was trying to free herself from Emma's accidental grouping of her breast. The damage tree laid sprawled across floor surrounded by loose garland and sprawled ornaments in different stages of break and whole. As a whole it was complete chaos and all that Mary Margaret could do was apologize to the owner and leave quickly. There was still the problem of Emma being attached to Regina by the class president's breast, which was actually fixed by taking a moist cloth that Mary Margaret carried around with her to Emma's skin. She was freed with little resistance and minimum damage to Regina's dress.
Mary Margaret was a little frazzled at not having taken her Christmas photos with the girls. They didn't understand why it was so important but accepted that they were to face punishment as well as having to go through the entire process all over again once the holidays were over. On the way out Mulan reached into one of her pants pocket, pulling out a small piece of paper that was crumpled in the lower depths of her pocket and threw it away. The paper held no further purpose to her because in one way or another what she had written on it was answered.
Is this punishment for the day before?
Christmas day, one of the quietest days for Storybrooke where the citizens who decided to stay in town remained in their home in the warmth of their fire places. There were no cars, no people or animal out, the only sound was the wind as it knocked against the windows. The morning was peaceful, Mary Margaret who woke up about an hour than she normally would drank some coffee out of a mug, enjoying the serene of the early hour. It was nice to have this little time to herself to just nurse her coffee, leaning against the counter as she took in the new morning air. Enjoying the last of the turnovers she heated it up slightly in the microwave before eating it by hand, something she wouldn't normally do but they didn't have small plates and the ones that they had she needed. As she let the still flakey pastry and gooey filling fill her taste buds, adding to her feeling of total bliss, was when her mind and body snapped in realization. She left her Christmas presents with Cora because she had nowhere in the apartment that she could stash them besides the hall closet, which they all used so that was quickly out, or under her bed.
In rapid panic thinking Mary Margaret tried to process what her next move was. It was early, far too early for a social call or to just show up out of the blue on Cora's doorstep with no warning. In the few mornings that Mary Margaret had spent with the headmistress she learned that the older woman was an early riser but this was Christmas day and she believed the headmistress might enjoy a nice leisurely hour or two much like her own until she remember a very crucial detail for her Christmas morning. Maybe she should just head out anyway and wait, if she left a message than Cora would know ahead of time why she was there. Yeah, that was a good idea as any but what number should she call? Cora possibly had four different numbers, her office number for the school was different form her personal one, and the two that she knew were Cora's cell and the Mills main line. What she didn't know was how often the headmistress checked for messages or miss calls on those lines personally. Perhaps she should just risk it and call Cora's cell, leave the message, and wait.
Decided she picked up the phone, punching in a number that she shouldn't have memorized as quickly as she did. She was never good with numbers as she was with words, she couldn't recall the number of passages of text in her life time that she knew by heart. It rang once, twice, and after the third she swore she heard something, faint but still there, on the other side of the door. There was the raping of knuckles against the wooden surface of her door and Mary Margaret decided to hang up the phone, thinking a few minutes wouldn't worsen or better her chances. Though when she opened the door Mary Margaret realized just how great her luck was.
"Cora." Though half hidden behind brightly color packaging and bows and some tissue paper Cora's chocolate brown eyes developed this light that traveled all along her pupil, going from one corner to the other. Mary Margaret quickly moved aside so that the headmistress could step inside, taking the top presents and kissing the headmistress' cheek as she passed. "I was just calling you to say I would be over to pick these up. I'm sorry that I had to inconvenience you."
"It's not an inconvenience if I know how important it is for you." Mary Margaret's blush was half hidden as she turned her head to arrange the presents around the small circumference of the Christmas tree, taking the ones that the headmistress still held when she set the two that she had. "Besides I wanted to talk to you about something that I forgot to mention yesterday."
"What would that be?"
"I talked to Mrs. Lucas and said I would offer my home for Christmas dinner."
"Coffee?"
"No thank you. At first she was a little reluctant but I reminded her that the townhouse is not only closer to you but has more room for the slightly more guest it needs to accommodate."
"Would there be more guest?"
"Well of course, Mulan was missing from Thanksgiving though you could say her spot was taken by Ms. Astrix, plus Zelena would be attending and she insists on bringing a guest which means there's this whole new wave because now it's a free bring a plus one event which almost doubles the guest list. With that said can it be safe to assume that you would be by plus one?"
"I don't see anyone else asking, do you?"
"Cheeky. Anyway, if you wanted to relay the message to the girls I see no harm with them inviting their own guest."
"I will tell them that as soon as I can."
"Very well. Now I must go, I doubt my presence is part of your grand Christmas morning."
"But not unwelcome. So I'll see you later on tonight then?" Cora hummed, the sound deep in the back of her throat. Gently she kissed Mary Margaret's cheek, the hand that she placed on the teacher's hip in a small gesture of a hug, lingered ever slightly, perfectly manicured fingertips just scratched the cotton material of Mary Margaret's night shirt, stopping half way across her flat torso. They didn't say goodbye, there was no need to if they were going to see each other in a matter of a few hours. For now a smile would do.
'Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun'
Being an all but normal morning Mary Margaret did little things to make it a little more Christmas. She turned the radio to the only music station that Storybrooke's radio waves picked up, mixed in small round sprinkles that dies the batter in small dots of red and green, the white kind of disappeared, and morning drinks were served in hand made ceramic mugs that was a little extra haul from Boston. The girls were a little less amused as she happily danced around the kitchen, singing along to the radio and when they came down the stairs half yelled 'Merry Christmas!' Emma, still groggy, stumbled into the hand rail of the stairs, making Mary Margaret panic for a hot second before the blonde continue to walk to the table, grumbling all the way there. As the girls ate the first stack of pancakes they were unimpressed and a little annoyed as Mary Margaret put either a Santa hat or reindeer antlers on their heads, the cotton ball on top dangled in front of Tink's blurry vision and she swatted at it until it went away.
After breakfast was presents, each girl circled the tree till they found the one or two thing that belonged to them. Emma was lost the second she opened her present, the wrapping paper and plastic wrap didn't stand a chance against the blonde's determination to get to the folded chess board. Every piece was looked over and she flat out gasped at the felt lined interior that had small molds for each individual piece. A first for everyone was the squeal that passed the blonde teens lips when she found out that the board was magnetic, lifting and dragging a pawn that was according to her 'just the right size despite the small board' to random squares and along the edge and was thrilled at the results. Mulan just stared at hers, her features distant, almost sad, and Mary Margaret feared that the teen hated her gift but the hushed thank you that she received and the look in Mulan's dark brown eyes filled her with warmth. Like with Emma Mulan was lost, playing with the tiles to her new mahjong set, arranging the tiles in no particular order or arrangement, at least as far as she could tell.
Tink expected her gift more than gush, the ceramic figure was the closes to what Mary Margaret could think to get the girl. The figure that Tink cradled in her hand was molded and shaped into a figure of a woman with a long and thin frame that rivaled a ballerinas. In fact the way the artist had decided to paint the woman in an interesting mix of a fairy and a ballerina. Though bare foot the woman's legs were painted in a way to indicate leggings, light blue in color. Different shades of blue were used to emphasize the different elements in her dress, the color reaching no deeper than a light blue and going as light to an almost white shade. Pink and blue flowers littered the skirt that was raised and folded almost like it was molded around a saddle and physically made up the straps to the corset like top part of the dress, the sides tied up like a shoe. Thin wavy strips painted a metallic blue color dangled from the flower straps and under the skirt, partially covering the woman's legs. The same shade of blue for the leggings was used to paint her arms in open finger gloves that stopped halfway up her arm, leaving a little gap between her shoulder and the hem of the glove. The woman's hair was a color that could either be a medium brunette or a dark red, Cora and Mary Margaret had a small debate over it, woven into the styled up do was two tassel ribbons, the bun large on top of the woman's head. The last thing was the wings, thin and molded to mimic dragon flies, rounded at the end and split into two instead of one, painted in a metallic white color to make them seem transparent. On her base of light pink cloud she stood on her toes, one seemingly look like it was floating on one of the puff edges while the other was bent slightly at the knee crossed behind the other, not touching but close to it. Her expression and arm placement had a serene air, hands folded and resting on her stomach and eyelids heavy. Tink didn't say anything, just smiled and refused to put down or stop touching the figure.
In all it was a success.
In the end Mulan was the only one who brought a guest with her. After relaying the information to the girls Mulan was the only one who picked up the phone to make a short phone call. It was pretty interesting to witness as Mulan's normally confidant and strong voice had this softness that was borderline shy, her words spoke slowly like as though she had to think of them before speaking. The call left its mark by a small smile on her face and she told Mary Margaret that her guest, a girl by the name of Aurora, would be arriving with the Lucas.
Emma and Tink thought long and hard about their plus one. Emma's first instinct was to ask Regina but that would seem redundant since the party was at the brunette's own home. She could ask Graham in a strictly platonic nature but there ran the risk of upsetting Regina. What if Regina had decided to bring Daniel and then she showed up with Graham unannounced? The secrete boyfriend and the public one in the same room was drama just waiting to happen, which was not good for Regina or Emma's wellbeing. Tink was at a cross road. On one hand she wanted to rush over to the phone and call Neráida right away but as much as she hated to admit it Zelena's words still buzzed in the back of her mind and that is what kept her rooted in place. Yet on the other hand she wanted to keep Neráida away, to limit the number of interactions that the student teacher had with the oldest Mills sister, it seem cruel but she couldn't help how she felt. In the end she forfeit her plus one along with Emma. In a way you could say they became each other's plus one.
Mary Margaret thought long and hard about rather or not to drive, the townhouse was just across the street, the walk no more than five minutes, but that meant five minutes of braving the ice, wind, and snow. Driving imposed the same risk and she didn't know how her driving skills or her car would handle the hazard conditions, this was the first time that both her car and herself were handling these extreme conditions. Airing on a side of caution walking was the best choice, everyone but Emma who lived in boots year round just slipped their winter shoes over their normal shoes and out they went.
Mary Margaret and the three Neverland girls were the first official guest to arrive. Mrs. Lucas was there, having arrived early to help Cora with the preparations for dinner. Cora greeted them at the door, showing them where they could place their coats and winter shoes. Clenched in Emma's iron grip was her new chess board, egger to show it to Regina, which was why the second her coat was in the closet she all but sprinted to find the class president. Cora and Mary Margaret were attached at the hip, the headmistress wrapped an arm around the teacher's waist, fingers playing with the red fabric of Mary Margaret's dress. Ruby came back in a small flurry of snow not soon after they, Belle and a girl with strawberry blonde curls that were left half up and half down were right at her heels. Mulan straighten herself even more the second the strawberry blonde entered, the two sharing a small smile before heading off to a different part of the house. Dr. Hopper with his wooden handle umbrella shook himself and his umbrella at the door, Pongo was not in his company but it was understandable and could have been decided on several different factors. The last to arrive was Zelena, a reddish brown hair woman on her arm that took Mary Margaret a minute to realize that it was Neráida with ghost of a smile on her lips.
In the living room Regina and Graham sat on the sofa at opposite ends, Emma was deflated when she saw the shaggy hair male. Neither teen look particularly happy, when Graham saw her he all but jumped out of his seat, a large grin on his face.
"Emma!" Her name sounded breathless and almost foreign with his accent, it had a thickness that she hadn't heard before. Regina turned her head at her name, political mask firmly in place, eyes hard and lips tightly pursed. Emma felt like an idiot with her big goofy grin that deflated the second she saw Graham and her chess set tight in her grip. Graham all but ushered and place her in his previous space while he took the one next to Regina, the class president moved herself in a way that kept the pillows in their place but she was no longer pressed into Graham's side. He saw the chess set in her hands and committed on it. His questions flustered her and against her secret wishes she broke in her new set with Graham instead of Regina, which turned into more of a chess lesson than an actual game. Regina all the while remained silent, she didn't offer any advice or make bitter comments about her or Graham she just sat there unmoving and with an expression that she was to good or done with everything around her. Her outlook wasn't helped with Ms. French all but settled in Ruby Lucas' lap and Mulan fawning over the new girl, Regina didn't like that there was someone in Storybrooke that she didn't know. And then there was Tink.
The adults hovered in the area that they called the informal dining room, the space next to the open kitchen with the large oak wood table where she and Emma would play chess. Her mother and Emma's supervisor were rarely apart, Cora's arm always on the teacher's body usually around her hip but sometimes on the small of her back or between the teacher's shoulder blades, not that the short haired woman minded. Dr. Hopper bounced between conversing with them and Mrs. Lucas who was ping ponging all over the kitchen, it was because of her that no one could fully enter the kitchen. Then Zelena entered which was when it started.
Zelena was dressed to impress, a formfitting black dress with quarter length sleeves that hugged the curves of her hips and the cleavage both molded and showed off a good amount of her breast. Her sister's normally bush like curls were tamed, her hair not quite straightened but the large curls made her hair flatter than normal. However, Tink's attention was not her sister but the woman that was on her arm. The woman had reddish brown hair that came down in waves but the ends curled a little, touching the middle of her shoulder blades. Her dress was modest, a deep navy blue that was almost black with a circle neckline, lace sleeves, and a flowing skirt that started around her hip and ended at her ankle. There was something eerily familiar about the woman and the longer that Regina stared at her the more the feeling nagged at her. She mentally slapped herself for not recognizing Neráida Superior but the student teacher looked different with her hair down and lips painted in a blush red color. Tink could not keep her eyes off of the student teacher and she looked on at the in a mix of sadness and anger mostly and a little something else that she wasn't quite sure to call. At least there was someone other than her who was unhappy.
Cora's formal dining room was…wow.
The walls were painted a bright white color that was illuminated by the chandelier like light fixture on the high celling. One wall was a large window made out of smaller panels looking outside, frost lined the edges. Along the wall opposite of the wall window was a large case that held china and under Emma's theory ready to serve alcohol, which was confirmed when Cora pulled out a bottle of wine from the lower cabinet. A majority of the space was taken up by the large rectangle table with only half of it surrounded by chairs, a group of their size would take up only a quarter if not just under a third. All of the food that was prepared was lined up on the thin strip of table cloth while their places at the table were marked by cloth place mats and neatly arrange silverware and glasses. Under some form of etiquette plus ones sat next together with Cora as the head on the right side of the table and Dr. Hopper the head for the left. On Cora's side was Mary Margaret, Emma, Graham, Regina, Aurora, and Mulan while on Dr. Hopper's side was Mrs. Lucas, Ruby, Belle, Tink, Neráida, and Zelena. Tink and Emma were the only pair that were split up because they were not actually a formal plus one, neither minded or noticed unit they saw the pair on either side of them.
Regina was less than happy, squished between Graham who was busying himself fawning over Emma and the new girl who smiled at her and introduced herself as Aurora not that it explained where on earth the girl came from. What ticked her off was that on either side of her she was ignored, her voice falling on deaf ears or what really made her pulse pound was when Mulan did hear her but for some reason thought it was this Aurora person's request and would either ignore it when the strawberry blonde rebuffs or actually help her. Emma tried her best, Regina saw her struggle with trying to revert Graham's attention back to her or try helping her with her requests but she would only get them half right since she was trying to piece her voice under Graham's. Despite the fact that she being absolutely ignored by both her side and the side across from her, her sister and Ms. Lucas were just as useless, her mother must be patting herself on her back because this was going absolutely perfect, or it was perfect until…
"Knock it off will you!" Everyone froze and collectively turned their heads to Tink who abruptly stood from her seat and shouted loud enough that her words rang loud and clear throughout the dining room. Rather she knew or not that she had caught the attention of the entire table Tink stormed off, her chair tipped over to the side and almost hit Neráida in her shoulder. The student teacher placed the chair back down before getting up herself, softly excusing herself before leaving the dining room. Mary Margaret made a move herself, tensing her shoulders to start getting up but Cora placed a hand on her shoulder silently telling her to leave it be. She did not, nor did she want to know, what was going on but it looked like it was better off between Tink and Ms. Superior.
"Tink are you in there?" Neráida knocked on the door, to what she didn't know but it was one of the few that were closed and had a faint light glowing around it. For all she knew Tink wasn't even behind the door, but she worked under assumption, she and Tink were the only two who left the table and were currently wondering around. Initially she didn't hear anything so she knocked and called out again, this time she could pick up faint movement before the door opened. It didn't open fully, just enough for it to get off of the latch and Neráida could just push the door open, just enough for her to enter, and then gently shut the door behind her, the click made her jump a little. Tink sat on the edge of the large porcelain sink, they were in a half bath that was larger than her full one in her University apartment, her head was down, dirty blonde curls cascaded across her face. In the teens hand was a section of her tattered skirt, clenching one of the many strips that came down the tip was twirled around and around between her fingers of her other hand.
"I'm sorry." The words were soft, Neráida felt them more than heard them. With slow steps Neráida moved closer and closer Tink.
"What do you mean?" Tink lifted her head just a little, on her cheek was a fresh tear track, Neráida could feel her hand twitch to reach up and touch it but fought it.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you, it's just…her hand was…and it just made me so angry! I know I have no right to feel this way or speak of your private life but god I can't help it. I can't help the way I feel about you and see her touch you just… I'm sorry." Neráida sighed and in that moment decided to stop fighting her instincts. She placed a hand on Tink's cheek, gently wiping at the tear stains with the side of her finger. She couldn't help the way her fingers played and tangled with Tink's curls. Tink tilted her head, the apple of her cheek almost nuzzled the palm of her hand, and slightly scooted ever so closer to Neráida, spreading her legs a little bit to accommodate the student teachers slender but full hips. Neráida didn't notice the change in distance until she blinked and her eyes focused on Tink's big round eyes.
And then she got a little bit closer, the tip of her nose brushing against the side of Tink's, until her lips grazed the side of teen's. Tink tensed, only slightly and only for a moment, before she parted her lips a little, taking in a little bit of Neráida's bottom lip before releasing it. Neráida's lips parted and Tink could feel the sudden intake of breath as the student teacher gasped, she took advantage of it, taking in more of Neráida's lip, holding it in a little bit longer before releasing it slowly almost letting it happen naturally. Neráida stilled, she didn't move and it seemed like she stopped breathing, and she remained that way for one heartbeat, two, and on the third her lips came crashing down on Tink's. This wasn't like their other kisses, it was hard, almost harsh, and when they pulled away they released a breath that neither of them realized they were holding. The faint pulsing of their lips, the light burning of their lungs, and the painting of their breath came with the sweet after waves like the light that swirled in their eyes and the hot air that surrounded them.
Neráida took two steps back, her entire body was shaking, and by some miracle she made it to the wall that was a good few feet away from the sink. The urge, the need, to want to curl into herself, into a small ball, was strong but she was the adult in this situation, she needed to be the voice of reason. She looked at Tink as the teen got off of the edge of the sink, she took a half step towards her, stopping before her foot even left the ground. They met eye to eye for one breath, two, until Tink moved her head to the side. It took two long heartbeats before Tink made the next move, to the door, and left. Pushing would get her nowhere and the place that she was in was something that she was impossible for her to be in with Neráida.
It was enough for now.
With the departure of Tink and Ms. Superior Cora thought that it would be a good time to move on to desert. Desert was served in a more casual style, used plates and serving platters were brought back into the kitchen where leftover food went into the trash before the plates and silverware went into the dishwasher to be run over night. Leftovers were packed and separated to anyone who wanted them. Desert was the apple pie that Regina made, no one had to say anything for Emma to just know that it was the same pie and so the first person in line, her face looking like an egger puppy. She finished her first slice before going back to the end of the line but Mary Margaret pulled her away by the back of her sweater, it didn't make her happy but she stayed put. No one knew that Tink or Ms. Superior came back until Cora felt her eldest come up behind her and whisper that she and the student teacher were leaving. Cora smiled at Mary Margaret and asked to be excused, which Mary Margaret just nodded and went off to deal with Emma as she tried to weasel the rest of the pie from Regina. Cora made her way to the back hallway, throwing a look Zelena's way, she didn't have to say a word the look said it all.
"Is there a problem Mother?" Zelena didn't look at her mother as she retrieved her coat from the closet, though she came in through the front door her coat went in the back closet since she was family and not a guest.
"Not at all. I just want to make sure you know what you are doing."
"Have I ever not?" Zelena smiled and turned to make her way to the front door.
"Are you coming home?" Zelena paused but only for a moment.
"I don't know." Cora sighed, she watched as her daughter and Ms. Superior walked out with Zelena's arm wrapped tightly around the student teachers waist. There was little that she could do, Zelena was an adult and did what she pleased, and the same went with Ms. Superior. Only time will tell where those decisions would lead.
"Excuse me Mrs. Mills?" In the faint back light of the kitchen stood Aurora, a first name was all that was given and yet there was something very familiar about the girl.
"Yes dear did you need something from me?" The young girl blushed and shuffled from one foot to another.
"I was wondering if I can talk to you about something. In private."
"Of course. Why don't we talk in my office?" She waved her hand to the stairs and the girl nodded before heading up, Cora only two steps behind. "This way dear." Aurora followed behind the older woman into a simple office space, almost like her fathers. Cora stepped in front of the desk, gently leaning on it so that she wasn't sitting on it but not standing completely straight either. "Now what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Aurora rung her hands together but stopped. The woman in front of her was key to her plan, her fate, and she need to prove herself.
Straitening her spine she took a deep breath before puffing out her chest, confidence, her father always said to have confidence, and she looked Cora Mills dead in the eye, it was a little scary but she needed to do this.
"I was wondering what it takes to…" Cora rose her eyebrow. Well now, she certainly wasn't expecting this.
It was completely dark inside the dorm when Zelena walked her to her door, even the security lights were out having just gone out or not even turn on at all. Neráida didn't mind the dark, the darkness allowed for anonymity, for her to disappear, to pretend that what happens in the dark stays and then dies with the sun. She placed the key in the lock, turning it slightly, a little gentle push was all that was needed, before turning her back to the door. Zelena looked at her slightly confused, maybe it was because Neráida herself was confused, she didn't know what to do, what she wanted. Her instincts were screaming at her for her to just say her farewells and dismiss her date for the night, she's done it before so why is this different?
It was different, made different, when she looked Zelena straight into her crystal blue eyes and took her by the hand to bring her in. Under more darkness Neráida made a move that she would never see herself doing, she kissed Zelena. There was no hesitation or chastity, it was up front and clear, her lips were pressed squarely against Zelena's. Zelena was still when her lips came crashing down, her hesitation only lasted a fraction of a second before her long slender fingers wove into her hair and increased the force their lips met. There was no denying that Zelena was an amazing kisser, when they pulled away for breath Zelena dragged tongue along her bottom lip, almost pushing her lips open more, to slip her tongue inside. It was a lot to take in for Neráida, the sensation of their pressed lips, the hand tangled in her hair, the nails dragging along her back, it was almost too much.
However, she didn't miss anything, like the sudden cold air on her back as the zipper parted causing the front of her dress to fall her elbows being the only thing to keep it going all the way. Zelena smiled against her cheek, the pressure light almost feather like, but their touch became more full as they went over her jaw and down to her neck where her flesh was tasted by lips, teeth, and tongue. She shivered and held onto Zelena more tightly, she feared of losing not only Zelena but herself, her mind was slowly going blank, processing only her basic wants. She wanted more of Zelena's lips on her, wanted to feel more of her skin being touched, she really wanted out of her tights, they started to almost suction her legs. She lowered her elbows so that her dress fell off of her hip and onto the floor. Before she could even think about removing her tights she found herself falling, at first she was scared but then she felt the coolness of cotton sheets touch her flush skin. She wasn't fully on the bed, her knees met the edge giving her an even footing and if she elevated herself on her elbows her shoulders would brush the wall behind her just so.
Zelena stood above her, head tilted as though she was admiring the way she fell onto the bed. She rose one knee and placed it on the outer side of the student teachers knee, placing one hand at either side of her hip she slipped the dress over her head. Neráida's eyes widened and her heart felt like it plummeted to her stomach. While both of their undergarments were a basic black color her's wasn't laced trimmed like it was Zelena's nor was it paired with a garter belt. The lace wasn't an accent on the edges or a top layer it made up most of the bra making it almost see-through, enticing was better with the way the lace almost tattooed the covered skin. The panties were small, again almost a majority lace, but there was no telling from the front what kind they were. The garter belt was, unlike its counter parts, lace free just solid black with the clips holding up the ends of the nylon stockings. Taking Neráida by the hand she moved the student teacher to how she wanted her on the bed before swinging her leg over so that she was fully straddling her hips.
That was where Zelena started, kissing the student teachers soft palm and continued all the way down to her elbow then to her shoulder. She paused only for a minute to push aside the plain thin bra strap just off the shoulder. She skipped the neck and focused on the collar bone, stopping in the middle to start going down to the valley between the student teacher's breasts. Her hands followed the almost exact path until they reached the material of the simple bra, her fingers played with the hem, pulling and shifting just to touch skin. She moved them around the back, nails lightly scraping at the bottom of the smaller woman's shoulder blades, completely ready for the next step when she felt it.
Neráida's hips were bucking underneath her, her pelvis meeting hers in an almost bruising force. Normally this was a good thing but Zelena knew that she hadn't even reached the point where this action was to be expected. Neráida was more or less squirming underneath her, why she wasn't really sure until she saw the holes and runs in the tights that the student teacher still wore. Zelena chuckled and leaned down, taking in the ear lobe between her lips, being mindful of the small gold stud, which rendered the student teacher still.
"If something was bothering you love all you had to do was say." Neráida blushed, she didn't even know how to begin to express her desires, not with Zelena doing an excellent job in rendering her voiceless. Slowly her tights were removed from her legs, her slick thighs made the material cling causing the holes and runs to grow, and this was not the first time she internally regretted wearing the tights in the first place. With the tights removed they were tossed to whatever part of the room, she didn't notice or cared at this point, not when Zelena's lips returned to her skin and her hands started to roam, fingers itching to resume what they wanted to do. Yet another one of Neráida's garments was removed, her bra falling to reveal her breast, pale pink nipples hardening at contact with the cool air. Zelena kissed the valley between the student teachers small round breast, the soft skin felt cool against her cheeks. Zelena never liked to go straight for the kill, she would kiss and lick the surrounding area before even brushing the edges of the barely visible areola. Neráida shuddered as Zelena's tongue claimed her nipple, it wasn't direct and the process was slow as the tip went around and around, the circles became tighter and tighter until Zelena took the flat of tongue and run the entire length over the bud. Neráida's entire body tensed and she made a sound that was a cross between a moan and a cry, it almost sounded painful but what she was feeling was anything but. Everything went black, it lasted for a minute or two before her vision came back and it took another minute to fully make out the actual room and her surroundings.
"Still with me love?" Zelena's voice and the way her clear blue eyes helped her regain her breath. She felt hot, oh so very hot, but a shiver went down her spine, her skin felt clammy and between her thighs…my good. They felt wet and hot, not damp like the sheet below her shoulders or the pillow under her head, it felt more like the time when Nova was just small, two or three, and she would accidently ruin herself after their father left the room. No one was to blame, Nova was small and she scared so easily, when she removed her tights they felt warm and wet and sticky, just like how the sheet below her felt. She shoved Zelena off her and scrambled off the bed, she couldn't stand on her own so she pressed herself against the wall. Zelena was frozen, still in her original position, on her hands and knees, there was space between her thighs and below her body. The vary space that Neráida vacant. "What's wrong?" Neráida didn't, couldn't, say anything, she was shaking too much and the embarrassment that she felt was too overwhelming. Zelena sighed and got up from the bed, plucking her dress from the ground and putting it back on like nothing was wrong. She stopped a foot away from her, silently asking for permission to come close, Neráida did not cringe or pull away when she gentle pressed her lips to her cheek. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about." With that last caress Zelena left, in her wake was a small light.
Her table lamp, the very one she picked up from a garage sale for ten dollars and the chain broken, slowly came to life because the switch that controlled the electricity in her room was turned on. Neráida didn't know why Zelena would turn the light on, she knew what she done without having to look directly at it, was as simple as that. The light was on though so it would be best to use it. Her hamper was in the closet, already full with her paint spattered overalls and some solid white and black t-shirts, and now her sheets. But as she looked at her sheets in the light they weren't stained yellow, it looked more like water was splashed on her sheets than…
Neráida just stood there in the middle of her dorm room, cold and half naked, and more confused than she was at the start of the night.
On the silent streets of Storybrooke Mary Margaret and three of her girls braved the short walk home. Dinner was great, even if not everyone was completely happy. Emma was sulking, having not spend the time that she wanted with Regina, or the pie, and Tink has been silent since she came back from where ever it was she ran to, Mary Margaret tried to talk to her but it was clear that it wasn't going to happen. Cora offered them to stay, it was tempting but it was best to get the girls, mainly Tink and Ruby, away from the Mills. There was a sigh of relief when they entered the, yes dark and cold, apartment but it was their space and that was all that mattered. The girls went to bed after collectively murmuring 'goodnight' which left Mary Margaret by herself on the ground floor. Mary Margaret thought nothing of it, she changed into her night clothes and washed her face and brushed her teeth before climbing into bed. She had a good time, good food and good company, automatically she made notes in her head about next year which was when it hit her. How could she know that there be a next year?
It was more simple hope than anything.