Summary: Maleficent and Regina have an argument. Emma and Regina are forced to face each other again after the incident and pick up on their relationship, but it doesn't feel the same anymore to be around each other. Nothing could ever go back to the way it was before coming out of that closet.

Feathers and Scales

When Regina woke up, she found her former mentor looking at her sleepy face with fondness, and it took her a minute to realize she'd fallen asleep in her soothing embrace.

She had slept with Maleficent. In her bed. In her home.

This had never happened before and Regina felt nervous. She didn't know if she'd offended the dragon, as their previous arrangement in the fairytale land was strict about having to 'poof out' after their bodies had completely relaxed, or Mal would turn into a dragon and fly out of her balcony and disappear in the cover of the night.

Sharing a bed for more than was necessary to get things done, had never happened before for them and Regina blinked her eyes in confusion.

Maleficent knew just what was going through her mind and decided to break the ice that she could feel settling.

"It's good to see you, Regina," Maleficent greeted. "If I had known you looked like this in the morning I wouldn't have made that silly rule," she leaned down and kissed her lips.

"Good morning," Regina blushed lightly and felt her heart beating faster. A light yawn came and the brunette covered her mouth with a hand, blushing even brighter at the slightly embarrassing image.

Maleficent smiled warmly and stroked Regina's hair gently while gazing into her eyes. But for Regina this was a very new feeling, waking up with someone shereally desired, and it surprised—shocked—her that Maleficent could be so endearing in the morning.

"And if I had known you could be this loving, I would have made you my Sheriff instead of my prisoner."

Regina stopped at the memory of Graham, who Maleficent had never met. The huntsman she took as a sub, bending her Mistress' suggestion about getting a pet. She'd made of him Maleficent's replacement in her bed, and a bad chapter in her new life in Storybrooke she truly regretted.

"Thinking about Emma Swan so early in the morning? I might feel a little offended, considering you just shared my bed," Maleficent rose from bed and went to her vanity to adjust her already perfect hair in an elegant bun. She was an early riser and had already taken a shower and made herself presentable.

Regina didn't want to talk about her previous pet, so she let her believe Emma had been the only Sheriff in Storybrooke.

"And I might believe you're jealous. Is that even possible?" Regina moved from the bed and went to pick up her nightgown from the floor to get dressed.

"Not a chance, but good try," Maleficent smirked at their reflection in the mirror. "And I'm confident I'm much better in bed. I enjoy quality, which she clearly doesn't, judging by her dating that insipid pirate when she could've had the best treat of her human life if she'd only tasted you."

Regina's lips parted lightly in surprise at the compliment, but also at the somewhat hurtful comment. "Well, it's not like I ever let anyone know I wasn't completely straight," the Mayor tried to justify.

"Regina, dear, your attraction towards women can be seen from realms ahead, just so you know. If she didn't realize, she may be just as dull as her parents. In which case, I would advise you against procreating with her."

"What?" Regina was baffled. "You know that's impossible, and we already have Henry."

"Not entirely…" She made a pause that made Regina want to deepen in the subject.

Is there magic capable of that? Regina wondered.

Maleficent after all knew much more about magic than her, as she was a great sorceress and a dragon only God knows how old she might be, and how much she'd seen in her prolonged life.

What if she was referring to her own pregnancy? Had it been magic? Because she'd thought Maleficent had slept with a man, or male dragon, and gotten pregnant.

Dragons were so mysterious. The old told tales about beautiful women who lured men into the woods so they could steal their "life source," becoming pregnant and keeping the unsuspecting father trapped inside a cave without escape so their dragon child would feed from his remains after hatching from the egg.

Folk tales. Spooky folk tales to control and condemn female sexuality.

"But I'm not about to get into details," Maleficent said before Regina asked her more about the subject. "Dear, it's time for you to check in at your home if you don't want your son wondering where his mother has gone to."

"You just want to get rid of me. I don't know why I thought it would be any different after last night," Regina exhaled deeply.

At morning she wasn't really her best self, specially not if she felt she was being kicked out of bed after the best intimacy she had in her life, so she was defensive. She felt hurt. She was already feeling hopeful of having a committed relationship, but Maleficent made no promises. She never had, and never would make a promise like this—she knew.

"I don't understand what you want from me, Regina. You want quality time: you'll have it. But right now I believe you have other more pressing issues to attend, am I wrong in my assumptions?" Maleficent waved a hand over her mirror and showed the image of Henry waking up. It was a school day and he had to get ready.

"I can be there any minute. This just… had been too good to be true," Regina said before vanishing in a swirl of purple smoke.

Maleficent swallowed hard after watching Regina leave. She didn't enjoy making her feel rejected, but she had her own secrets to keep and had to stop Regina from asking questions she wasn't ready to answer.

At the mansion, Regina glamoured herself up with magic and summoned Henry's breakfast in the same manner, as she didn't have the mind to cook. She was upset and didn't feel like doing anything really, but she had to let it go for now so she wouldn't burden her son with her bad temper.

Henry did notice his mother was still moody, but he assumed it had to do with Emma because of their cold interaction from the previous evening, and let it slip. It was better to not meddle in their business, as he had learned by now after having been the 'apple of discord' in between his mothers.

Nope. Not a good idea.

He went to school normally. Regina dropped him in the bus stop before going to the Town Hall, where she locked herself in the office to do paperwork that would hopefully get her mind off everything that happened the day before.

She was very exhausted, the dark circles under her eyes were telling, but she managed to listen to Leslie as she gave her the summary of the meeting without her. There was nothing out of the ordinary and the Mayor thanked her secretary for the professional document she left over her desk. This was her best secretary ever after Sydney Glass, just minus the dirty work.

Leslie was leaving the office when Regina asked her for something else.

"One last thing. What's the gossip running behind my back?" Regina didn't need to specify the topic as Leslie could very well understand it was aboutthat scene before the meeting.

"Rumor has it, Madam Mayor, that Sheriff Swan may have misunderstood your friendship and took some liberties you didn't welcome," Leslie answered nervously.

"What?!" Regina was baffled. "They think she assaulted me?" She was incredulous.

"There's that version, but it's less popular. And the other is... that…" Leslie looked around her nervously, "you were both having... Ah… fun, but you…" she fidgeted and paused.

"Just say it," Regina ordered.

"But you chickened out— I quote — last moment," poor Leslie was so embarrassed.

"I did NOTchicken out," Regina groaned. Leslie squinted at her with curiosity.

"That's all. Thank you," Regina dismissed her.

Regina didn't like being thebuffoon of her denizens and wanted to clear this subject as soon as possible, but she had to tell the whole story and that was just as embarrassing, if not more, than the version being spread as the "official," which portrayed Regina as a coward who wouldn't face her true feelings for Emma, even when the Sheriff had expressed her romantic affections.

The story of that incident only kept growing bigger as you asked different persons, and by the end of the week, the unofficial/official one was that Emma had confessed her feelings to Regina but Regina rejected her because it would damage her image as Mayor. The cold woman hadn't even cared that Emma had ended her relationship with the pirate to prove it to her how much she wanted her. The last part was something that made Regina actually quite curious, but pride was pride and she wasn't about to call Emma to confirm the gossip. So according to the town, Emma was broken hearted; Regina had been a bitch to her, and people were giving her angry looks of 'how dare you hurt this innocent girl who loves you,' which was ludicrous because Emma Swan was dating the pirate. If it was as if he didn't even exist in the eyes of Storybrooke, that had nothing to do with her.

"Always a villain, even when I'm not," Regina sighed.

"What?" Sneezy didn't quite hear her.

"Nothing."

She received her change after paying for her medicine for migraine, and as she did, an old lady waiting in line gave her a condemning look, and when Regina was moving to the exit she could hear the lady telling her grandson that she didn't want him near Henry because his mothers were getting weirder each day and she didn't want that kind of influence to affect him. But the kid just rolled his eyes and continued playing in his Gameboy an old game Henry had let him borrow.

Regina was tempted to turn on her heel and put that peasant in her place, but she took a deep breath, opened the door and continued her path quietly. She had no time and no desire to deal with old ass homophobes that were about to expire. And if that kid listened to his grandmother and stopped being friends with Henry, he was the one unworthy her son's friendship.

Regina went back to her office and asked Leslie to bring her a glass with apple juice for her pills, letting her weight drop on the chair tiredly. Leslie came a couple of minutes later to leave the glass over her desk and asked if there was anything else she might be needing.

"Just close the door behind you on your way out. Oh and don't pass me any calls, unless it involves my son," Regina said as she rubbed at her throbbing temples.

She drank her pills and went to sit on the couch. She closed her eyes for a moment to try clearing her mind and allow the medicine to take effect, but she was so tired she fell deeply asleep. In her dreams she vaguely heard her son's voice calling her.

It was way past the time they closed the Town Hall. Emma had gone to leave Henry home after picking him from school and sharing dinner at Granny's but Regina wasn't there yet. Her cellphone kept sending them to voicemail and she wasn't picking up in her office. They'd also called Snow to ask if she had seen her, but she hadn't.

They decided to wait a while outside the mansion, but as an hour passed they decided to call Regina's secretary on her personal phone. Leslie told them the last time she saw the Mayor was in the magister's office and she'd ask her not to be disturbed. She then went home when it was time to close, but the Mayor stayed.

Regina would seldom stay late at work when she was stressed over something, but she would always let her son know, so it was very strange that Regina didn't let them know in time and so Emma decided to go look for her at the government building.

"Regina?" Emma knocked on the door.

The door was locked but Emma used her magic to hack it open. She pulled out her gun and asked Henry to stand behind her as she carefully entered the room to investigate.

They saw the half empty glass with some amber liquid over the coffee table, an orange bottle with pills that were scattered over the glass and some had dropped to the rug underneath, and as they moved closer they saw Regina lying unconscious on the sofa with a hand drooping on the side; it was a disturbing image if you didn't know the context.

"Mom?" Henry ran to Regina's side when he saw her on the sofa.

Regina had turned while asleep and accidentally hit the little container with her hand and made it fall, spilling the pills all over. But Emma didn't know this and what she was imagining was a more dramatic scene.

"Mom?" Henry shook her shoulder lightly.

"Regina! You okay? Can you hear me?" The sheriff jumped to her side when no response to Henry's question was given. "Please squeeze my hand if you do," she immediately took her hand in hers, and with the other checked the pulse on her neck.

"I'm fine," a raspy voice came from Regina in a groan and the brunette swatted Emma's hands away from her.

"Thank God!" Emma felt so relived, she almost went for a hug, but stopped midair and Regina knit her brow in confusion, but shook it off, and tried to focus her blurry sight. Maybe she imagined it.

"I almost forgot how overly dramatic you are, Ms. Swan," the brunette commented and Emma rolled her eyes. "I must have lost track of time," the Mayor said as she turned to look at the clock on her desk. "I didn't even intend to sleep, but I had such a strong migraine," Regina incorporated slowly on the couch to sit.

"Yah… Tell me about it," Emma mumbled. "Can I have one or two, please?"

It hadn't been easy for Emma either. Even if she kept telling her friends that nothing had happened that day and made up she'd only been helping Regina find some old files in the dead archive, no one would believe her. It was a believable lie, but not even David could deny they saw Emma holding Regina's bra in her hand, it almost traumatized poor Mary Margaret for life. And the way Regina yelled at her made some witnesses think Emma had dared touch the Mayor without her consent.

These were their two stories: one that made Emma a sexual offender, and the top favorite that made Regina a cowardly heartbreaker. None of which were true.

Regina looked at Emma, who looked even worse than she did, and nodded.

Emma took a couple of pills, swallowed them with the remaining juice in Regina's glass and Henry put the ones that didn't fall to the rug, back inside the container, and went to put it away inside his brunette mother's purse. It wasn't rare for him that his mother would sometimes need this medicine, as she would get those torturous migraines from time to time, especially when he'd started questioning her about being the Evil Queen.

Emma asked Regina to allow her to drive them home but Regina refused. Emma insisted once more and Regina finally relented because her sight was still a little blurry, and the migraine was coming back. She needed to relax so she finally gave Emma the keys to her Mercedes. It had been too rough of a week.

"There's no way I will relax in that loud bug, and this migraine will kill me," she told Emma so she would back down this time and agree to drive them in Regina's car. David could come pick her up in his truck.

"I like to walk anyway," Emma shrugged it off.

The drive to the mansion was quiet. Tense. Regina refused to even look in direction of the blonde and Emma felt like she wanted to talk to Regina but at the same time she couldn't and it was an awkward silence, save for the sounds coming from Henry's game in his phone.

They had avoided each other after the incident in the closet, even when Emma had wanted to share the news of her break-up with Guyliner. But she reminded herself that they weren't best friends anymore. Or were they? Emma needed to know. She really had missed her these seven days (that felt like years). It was the worse week of her life—okay, maybe she was exaggerating on that; it was the second worst week of her life, only surpassed by the week they spent in Neverland looking for Henry.

Once in the mansion, Emma stood in the porch and didn't ask for an invitation inside. Instead, she turned around in defeat and started walking away before actually getting dismissed once her purpose as chauffeur was fulfilled.

"Emma," came Regina's voice behind her and Emma felt her heart skip a beat. "The keys," Regina extended her hand.

"Oh, right. Sorry," the blonde felt heat rise to her cheeks.

She walked toward Regina and pulled the car keys out of her jacket's pocket and when she placed them in her hand, she let her own hand linger a little too long over Regina's. She felt a small shiver with the contact, an intimate touch even when it wasn't, and Regina wasn't really ready to lose that warm feeling she had been growing for Emma. This felt really comforting and after how Maleficent hadn't tried reaching her in all these days, Regina was very receptive to any signs of caring.

"Would you like to come inside for a drink? Perhaps some tea?" Regina surprised herself with her own request, but she really didn't want to continue being lonely. She finally had a friend in Emma and this friendship meant to her much more than she wanted to admit.

"I would love that," Emma offered a sheepish smile, and took a step even closer, and in that moment, they realized they were actually holding hands, and both women quickly corrected the accidental handhold.

Henry was doing his homework upstairs while his mothers bonded over a cup of chamomile & lavender tea. Apple cider was a better idea, but they had just drunk their migraine pills; it wouldn't be advisable to mix drugs and alcohol.

They talked about the gossip in the small town and how ridiculous and wrong it was. Of course with the way they came out and what the people in the conference room saw, they had given them material to build these outrageous stories that only held but a small portion of the truth in them. Yes, Regina had rejected Emma, but it was for very different reasons.

Regina couldn't continue faking not to be curious about Emma's break-up. She needed to know if it had actually happened or if it was part of the made-up rumors. Emma could sensethe Mayor was dying to know. She finally told her she found him with a prostitute in his bed, and called it over, and she felt so free now that she didn't have to keep pretending it was him who her heart desired. She couldn't continue lying to herself and denying her true nature: she liked women, and she had laid eyes on one since a long time ago, but had been too scared to face these feelings.

Hearing this intimate confession made Regina feel a shiver travel down her body, giving her goosy skin in anticipation. She selfishly wanted to be the true owner of Emma's longing, but she fought the feeling away. It could be Lily, Regina reminded herself. Emma had probably just wanted to "scratch an itch" with Regina. Besides, she had Maleficent now, didn't she? But this was uncertain after how she left the dragon's home and Maleficent hadn't contacted her yet. She never did in past, why would she do now? It was always her seeking Mal.

Regina found herself lingering at Emma's lips for longer than would be deemed appropriate, and the blonde felt her face become flushed in awareness. Emma licked her suddenly dry lips as her own gaze fell on dark red ones, and decided that she could do this. She could, and she would be fighting for this woman. Maleficent might be gorgeous, refined even, but Emma wasn't that bad herself. She had a lot of love to offer, if Regina wanted to take it.

Her mind was resolved; she would be courting Regina Mills. Let the games begin.

Regina accompanied Emma to the door and as they walked, Emma let her hand brush lightly against Regina's, pretending it was accidental. Regina bought it and Emma could see some color come to tint her cheeks.

Was Regina blushing? It made her heart jump with excitement. She could do this. She had a chance.

"Good night, Emma," Regina stood by the entrance, holding a hand at the doorframe as she watched Emma step down her porch.

"Emma turned her head lightly and smiled at her over the shoulder. "Good night, my friend," the blonde said teasingly.

Regina twitched her lip at the "friend" part.

— * —

The next day, Emma came to Regina's office carrying a bag with some take-out food to have lunch with her. The Mayor wasn't expecting it, but it was a surprise she welcomed. They hadn't shared lunch together since the day the Chernabog came out of the hat.

"What do you have there?" Regina looked up at Emma and pointed at the take out bags in her hands with her pen.

"Not Granny's," Emma flashed her teeth. "Two spinach omelettes, and coffee."

"What happened to your grilled cheese?" Regina gave her a flirtatious look and suppressed a smile.

"I wanted to taste something more refined for a change," Emma winked at her and made her blush.

They moved to have lunch over the table to the side and talked about Henry's day at school, and Regina commented about the homophobic lady she had the displeasure to hear in the pharmacy, and Emma agreed it would be the other kid's loss if he stopped being friends with Henry.

It felt good to converse like this again, but there was also something more. Was Emma hitting on her? Regina was unsure, but it wasn't like she didn't like this new level of attention. Emma kept looking at her like she was the light of her eyes, and actually listened to everything she said, and offered many smiles that felt sincere.

When they finished, Regina was surprised when Emma rose from her seat and quickly went to stand behind hers, pulling back the chair so Regina could stand from the table more easily, like a true gentlewoman.

Regina blinked in bewilderment but the corner of her lips quirked into a smile.

"To what do I owe this sudden change of treatment, Miss Swan?"

"I'm just treating you like the Queen you are. Do you mind, your Majesty?" Emma cheekily responded.

Regina locked eyes with Emma and couldn't stop her smile from turning into a toothy grin. "Not at all. You may continue," the brunette told her as she moved to her desk.

Emma ran to the desk, too, and pulled back the chair before Regina went to sit. "Allow me," the blonde said ceremoniously, and Regina sat on her chair, feeling highly amused with this playful dynamic. It really felt good to be treated as a 'lady,' and she imagined this was what being courted felt like. Wait. Who said anything about being courted by Emma Swan? She shook the thought away.

"Sheriff. Don't think because we shared lunch you're exempt from your duty to the town. I expect your paperwork turned in at four. You're good to go," the Mayor dismissed her.

Emma offered a lopsided smile. "Of course not, Madam Mayor. I know what I'm expected to deliver," she winked at Regina and the brunette was baffled. The innuendo game with Emma was strong today, and she kind of liked it. But she was so NOT flirting back with Emma. That is if Emma was actually flirting.

Oh god. What was happening?

Regina had trouble concentrating on her own work. She kept thinking about her night with Maleficent, and about this morning with Emma. She'd enjoyed both interactions, and the idea crossed her mind that "if only she could make one out of the two of them, it would be perfect."

Maleficent made her vibrate with her more basic instincts; passion, lust, but there was also admiration for her brilliant mind, her experience in life, and she could be quite loving—when she felt like sharing. But she could also be emotionally detached on the same level. And Emma, Emma was being so open now. But it hadn't always been like this. She was actually not very different from Maleficent on that; they rarely displayed their affection romantically. But today had been so nice.

Emma had made a change. She was coming after her today, she was very open, and she was very cute in their interaction earlier. This was a side of Emma Regina had only imagined, but now she was being able to see it from up close, and even feel it. Truth be told, she quite welcomed it.

— * —

The Sheriff was like that all throughout the week. She kept bringing lunch, always a delectable, healthy choice, but Regina knew she was cheating once she got to the station. She'd spied her on the mirror on a few occasions to confirm her suspicions, that Emma had her desk drawer stuffed with junk food to eat while in the privacy of her little office. Bad Swan. Regina chuckled.

The second week passed without speaking about the embarrassing subject again, and the gossip in the small town started to finally fade away. But during these days, Regina hadn't seen or heard from Maleficent, and that was more frustrating than the rumors about her unpopular encounter with "Emma" in the closet. Nobody had a clue that it had been Mal who had her hands all over Regina that day. Hands Regina missed feeling on her body. Her friendship with Emma wasn't like her friendship with Maleficent, but she secretly wished they could reach that level of... intimacy.

That night Regina had quite a racy dream involving not only Mal, but also Emma with her. She woke up and had to splash some cold water to her face. "No. No. No. Don't fuck it up," she repeated in her mind, because she quite enjoyed the image of her, pressed in between the two hot blondes doing R-rated things. Oh, sweet dragons and swans.

Even if she'd made up with Emma and they'd been having an interesting week, to say the least; it was one more day since her intimate night with the dragon, and Regina felt ridiculous because she was actually keeping count of the days, every time she opened her agenda and looked at the calendar. How pathetic. She hated this old habit, one she had back in the Enchanted Forest, counting the days before she could visit or summon Maleficent to her presence.

Sixteen.

For some odd reason, this was Maleficent's favorite number. It was the day—that was if they were still working their relationship under the dragon's old terms, but she couldn't know because she'd left Maleficent's bedroom in a bad mood, and didn't contact her again, even when she really needed to ask if that night meant anything to her, because it meant a lot to her.

Perhaps this had been Mal's way to get back at her, making her crave something she never would receive from her: requited love. This was her vengeance.

Regina kept absent-mindedly drawing a perpetual circle around the day on her agenda, until Emma finally commented on it.

"What did Tuesday do to you? That paper's gonna break," the blonde closed an eye, as if she'd flinched expecting a punch.

"Nothing," Regina groaned.

But in that moment, they saw black smoke swirl over the desk, and after dissipating, it revealed a small black box with an elegant purple ribbon on the top, and a note tucked under the bow.

"Maleficent," Regina gasped.

But Emma wasn't as excited about it. She crossed her arms over her chest as she saw Regina pull out the note, and narrowed her eyes on it.

"So, what it says?" She asked from tight teeth.

The message was written in Maleficent's elegant calligraphy and said: "I hope there's still hope, my black rose," Regina read, and Emma steeled her jaw. "Oh."

Regina frowned in confusion. Why did this present feel like an apology? Not to mind it, anyway, as she hadn't received a romantic present in years—maybe decades, or ever (unless you counted that mirror she received from the genie), and it made her stomach feel a flutter. Also, this was the first—no, the second time Maleficent was the one to seek her. The first time was in that goddamn closet. Oh.

Maleficent wasn't getting back at her, Regina realized, and her face lit-up.

She found a small red velvet bag inside, from which she slowly retrieved her present. It contained a gold chain necklace with a beautiful teardrop ruby pendant, framed by small white diamonds all around it. It was very elegant, and it so happened to match her dress perfectly. Maleficent must have peeked at the mirror to check on Regina before materializing the jewelry with her magic.

"Allow me?" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind Regina's chair, making her jump in her seat. But Emma wasn't amused and had to fake a smile.

"Ah… yes, I suppose," the Mayor responded with a nervous smile, locking eyes with Emma briefly. She was excited, but she noticed Emma wasn't all that happy.

Regina shivered when she felt Maleficent's fingers move her long hair to the side to place the necklace around her neck, and felt even more nervous when the woman's breath was over her skin, ruby lips so close to her neck, as the dragon moved the pendant to rest on the middle of her chest. Hmm.

"What do you think, Savior?" Maleficent locked eyes with Emma when the younger woman tried to take her leave. "Do you fancy?" Her voice was melodic but her gaze was daring as long fingers held the ruby pendant firmly over Regina's heaving chest.

Do you fancy this gem? Do you fancy Regina? Emma could read between the lines.

"Yeah," Emma pushed her hands inside her pockets looking at the two women with unease.

"Let me see," Maleficent swiveled Regina on the chair to face her. "Breathtaking, my dear," she spared a glance at Emma. She was being territorial.

"Well, you created it. It would be odd if you gave me something you didn't feel proud of," Regina gave her a playful look and nibbled on her lower lip. Gladly, Emma didn't see that, as the back of Regina's chair was all that met her sight. And, of course, smug Maleficent behind it.

"I was referring to you, darling. But the pendant did turn out quite delicately as well," Maleficent showed a flash of white teeth in her smile, flirting openly with Regina as Emma watched with vile burning in her stomach. Maleficent was quite enjoying riling her up.

"I gotta go, R'Gina. This lunch break was longer than usual. See you later," the Sheriff didn't even give time for Regina to answer. She was fast to go, slamming the door shut behind her.

What on earth? Regina rose from her seat, startled, but the hands that slowly came to her hips, prevented her from following behind her. It felt nice to have them there again, and Regina wrapped her arms around Maleficent's neck.

"Smooth talker," Regina had a weakness for the dragon lady.

"Not just smooth at that," Maleficent batted her eyelashes sensually, and Regina raised a flirtatious eyebrow in response.

"I must confess I've quite missed you these days, Regina," Maleficent sounded honest.

"Really?" Regina was incredulous, almost sarcastic. "You did a great job covering it up with your indifference. You fooled me."

Maleficent leaned down and kissed Regina's pouty lips. "Really. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Lied? No. Omit the truth, in the other hand..." Regina raised her eyebrow. "But you had your reasons, and I respect your wish to keep them private."

"Good girl," Maleficent smiled and stroked her hair sweetly. "I hope you know I didn't mean to push you away."

"Mal…" Regina parted from her embrace. "I need to know if we're going back to our old ways. I don't know what we're doing."

"Well, I know what I'm doing. I'm enjoying my time with you, and I had hoped you would do the same."

"Yes, of course," Regina averted her eyes and made a long pause. "It's just…" Regina wanted to ask for more, but she couldn't. "Do you have a plan for today or should I—"

"I do. But you might want to let your secretary know you won't be coming back until tomorrow," Maleficent informed her.

"What?" Regina shook her head. "I've work—"

"You always have work, dear, what difference does it make? Today, tomorrow, or the day after; it's all the same. You only live once… Well, unless you're myself," Maleficent chuckled.

"You're… right," Regina knit her brow but smiled.

"Shall we?" Maleficent offered Regina her arm.

They walked together to the door and Leslie was very confused when she saw the two ladies come to her little desk, arm in arm, after having seen Emma storm out of that same office with the temper of the devil. She suddenly connected the dots. Uh-oh.

"I'm leaving early, and I won't be answering any calls," Regina was straight to the point, careless of what her secretary might assume.

"Have a good day, Madam Mayor," Leslie didn't ask any questions.

Everything was quite obvious, as Maleficent's love for women was no secret after that Sleeping Beauty curse. But nobody had ever known these two witches had an affair that dated back to Regina's youth in the Enchanted Forest. They had a long history, and it transpired that both women weren't new to each other.

Wow! Leslie couldn't believe how hot these two powerful women looked together. She wasn't gay herself but she needn't be to admit it.

"So where are we headed?" Regina asked with curiosity.

"To the only place where you can let go," Maleficent grinned, and Regina was somewhat confused. "The sky," she cleared.

A black smoke engulfed Maleficent's body and changed her shape into a dragon, giving many of the walking by peasants a really bad spook.

The Sheriff station began receiving calls to alert them about the dragon, and David didn't know which of the two was. Mother or daughter? In any case, they were probably up to no good and David paged Emma to ask her to look out.

"Mal! Have you not seen what I'm wearing? I'm in a dress, there's no way I can ride you," Regina yelled angrily.

"So keep only your necklace, my dear," Maleficent teased her.

"So funny. I didn't know you kept a humor hidden under all those scales. What are you waiting for? Change me," Regina ordered the big creature.

Emma was still in her patrol when she saw the familiar dragon, turned off the engine, but stopped dead on her track when she saw Maleficent's eyes glow brightly in purple, and from her mouth came a big cloud of magic that covered Regina.

Emma ran fast to Regina's side but fell back on her butt when the Mayor began changing into a fucking dragon as well.

"What the hell?" The blonde was flabbergasted, as were the rest of the people outside the building.

"Fear not, denizens of Storybrooke. It's just me, and we're not out to cause any trouble," Regina's voice came loudly from a smaller dragon than Maleficent.

She had red wings and black scales in her body, eyes that glowed bright amber—she kind of reminded Emma of Lily—and Emma could almost swear it looked a little more masculine than the other winged snake.

No way… Was she imagining things?

The two dragons spread their wings and took flight, heading right into the headwinds and racing to the clouds. It was quite a spectacle that in the fairytale land would have meant the dragon dance before death fell upon their village in the form of raining fire coming from their mouths.

This was Maleficent's idea for a date with Regina, minus the horror part.

"How can I compete with that?"