Chapter 14.

Regina observed the younger woman carefully; she seemed okay, she was just watching the television on the couch. Was that a normal reaction to finally meeting your fairy tale parents? Regina sighed; she didn't really know what was normal anymore.

"Here, made you a coco," she smiled, handing the hot drink to the blonde.

Emma smiled, "Thanks," she replied, blowing on it gently and putting it down as she waited for it to cool, aware of Regina's eyes on her, she looked up, "I'm okay," she answered the unspoken question.

Regina nodded, "Good… I'm sorry if I got a little…possessive, with your parents. I didn't mean to treat you like a child, or a possession…"

Emma shrugged, "I know, you were scared of losing me."

Sometimes Regina forgot how well Emma knew her, "Mm, you're so insightful," she put a hand in blonde hair, "I usually run from people like that."

Emma bit her bottom lip, "You don't need to run from me," she leant forward and placed a kiss on plump lips before leaning back and pulling the brunette on top of her.

"Now?" Regina asked, raising her eyebrows.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, unless you don't want – "

Regina pulled Emma's shirt open, "Oh no, I want," she grinned.

"Are we really going to leave her with Regina?" Charming asked, following Snow in with the last of the boxes of his belongings. They'd decided they wouldn't sleep so they may as well move David in through the night.

"Charming," Snow sighed, "For now…we're just going to have trust her."

"With our daughter? It's been twenty eight years and she doesn't even want to spend any time with us?" the hurt was clear in his eyes.

"She needs time, I guess," Snow couldn't disguise the hurt in her voice either, "Anyway, it's sun rise, the town will be awake soon and there are going to be a lot of questions. We should get to the town square."

"You're right," Charming managed a smile, "This is going to get complicated. They're going to want Regina's blood, you know that?"

"Well, we're going to have to convince them otherwise," Snow found herself saying.

"Always seeing the best in people," Charming smiled, putting his arms around his wife, "Though I guess we have different reasons this time," he kissed her on top of her head, "Still, we will have our work cut out for us."

"I say, we go over there right now and face her head on," Leroy claimed, the rest of the dwarves shouting their support in unison.

"Let's go," even the mild-mannered Archie, was riled up.

"Okay, everyone," Charming took a stance, "We've got every right to be angry at Regina, but before we storm over there – "

"She cast a curse on us and took away our memories…for twenty eight years," Ruby exclaimed, Belle and Rumple by her side.

"This is true, this is all true," Snow said, raising her hands to silence the crowd, "But why don't we – "

"No, no second chances. Don't you think you've given enough of those Snow?"

"I must agree with the rest of the town, Regina did steal twenty eight years from us, don't you think she deserves to feel a bit of – "

"Not your kind of punishment, Rumple. That would just be sinking to her level," Snow replied, crisply.

Rumple shrugged as he lent on his cane, "Well, we can take turns, I suppose," he grinned that worrying grin as Belle clung onto his arm, shaking her head disapprovingly until he shrugged, looking resigned.

Emma woke up first, slowly and pulled the blanket over the two women's body as she shivered and nuzzled into Regina's chest, breathing in her scent.

A moment later, she felt Regina's hand travel through her hair gently.

"Mm," Emma groaned sleepily, "Nice."

Regina chuckled, "You smell so sweet," she whispered, drowning her face in blonde curls and breathing in that sweet scent that she'd grown to love so much.

Then there was a bang at the door, and it wasn't a polite, cordial kind of knock. Regina sighed, standing up and quickly throwing the clothes she had discarded on the floor before slipping her heels on and making her hair presentable.

Another angry mob, she had dealt with many of these before, it really wasn't anything new to the Evil Queen. She glanced at Emma though, who was biting her nails and looking to her for guidance.

"Hey," she said gently, "It's okay, I'll deal with this dear. You don't need to worry," she approached the blonde and put a hand under her chin, "Stay here, okay? I will sort this out," she finished confidently.

Emma nodded and watched the other woman exit the room, listening to the clicking of her heels down the hallway.

It was only a few moments of angry yelling and harsh words until the blonde stood up and ran to the door just as Regina had her arms raised at the angry mob.

"No, don't," Emma pulled at her arms, "No more magic," she pleaded.

Charming made it to the forefront of the crowd, "Guys stop, come on. The last thing we need is another war on our hands."

"And you don't think we'll have one with her living here?" Leroy growled angrily.

"No," Emma spoke up, addressing the crowd for the first time, speaking with more confidence than she really felt, "There isn't going to be any war. We don't – "

"Who the hell are you anyway?" one of the dwarves asked.

Snow sprung to action and ran protectively in front of her daughter, "Hey," she said, and when nobody listened a little louder, "Hey, you want to know who this is?" she gestured to her daughter as the crowd went silent, all eyes on Snow White and Emma, "This is our daughter," she revealed, taking one of Emma's hands in her own, "She made it back to us," she smiled, "This is a good thing…a great thing."

After the gasps, a silence washed over the town for a few moments; could it really be possible? The baby that was sent away in a magical wardrobe twenty eight years ago was the newcomer to town. The newcomer who the evil queen had been parading around town? Had she broken the curse as predicted?

"Then why is she with her?" another towns member pointed at Regina.

"It's…complicated," Snow replied, "But it's okay," she said to a frowning crowd, "Because she is the saviour and she wouldn't be with Regina if there wasn't some kind of…good in her," it was a revelation to herself as she said it, but as soon as she did she knew it to be true, "Emma broke the curse, albeit in a…confusing kind of way," she frowned, "But she did and we owe her our lives for that."

Ruby and Belle exchanged whispers, finishing in Ruby muttering, "Complicated," under her breath.

"Please, I know you all want to tear Regina apart right now, but…can't we turn this into a celebration instead? A new beginning? For everyone," Snow suggested as Charming wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

After a little more debate and unhappy mumblings, the crowd dissipated and left Snow White, Charming, Emma and Regina standing awkwardly on the front step of the mansion.