Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. My condolences for those who like me died a little inside due to OQ kiss. I hope this helps a little.
Chapter 12
After Robin left Regina's castle and the queen decided to go her chambers and try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, that was not the plan for Red and Tink. Not long after the brunette was out of her dress and into her nightgown the giggling duo knocked on her door.
"What the hell are you two still doing here, don't you have a lair anywhere with bones buried? And you, don't you have mushroom house anywhere?" queried the yawning woman.
"Yes, we do. I mean, we have houses to go back to. But first, we want to know everything! Spare no detail!" said Red in a slurred speech. Tink just kept nodding with a childlike grin.
"I see you have found my wine cellar…" she arched one eyebrow.
"We had plenty time and nothing to do." Tink shrugged.
"And don't go changing the subject. Spill it lady!" Red all but shout, the blonde went back to nodding franticly and Regina sighed.
"I'm tired, and you are drunk. Can't we do this tomorrow?" said the former mayor beginning to close the door on their faces but was stopped by Tink's hands.
"But… but Red told me we would have a slumber party. I've never had one of those before." Pleaded the former pixie with a glint in her eyes. "Pretty please."
"Are you seriously thinking I'd let you two sleep in my chambers?" She eyed both of them from head to toe.
"C'mon Regina, don't act like you don't want to tell every single detail of you date with that hunk!" Red exclaimed. "Besides, I've seen what kinda people you bring into your room, a couple of ladies won't hurt your reputation…" she smirked.
"Careful, Ruby, I still have the power to put you back on your leash. And no, I don't have any urge to tell you about my date. But I know you won't restrain from bothering me until you have some information. Come in."
The trio went in Regina's bedroom and both of the visitors stared in awe. It was impeccable, not a thing out of the proper place. A huge bed in the center was surrounded by the finest furniture they had ever seen. All the fabric in the room was red with golden details embroidered. The sweet smell of apples and cinnamon filled their nostrils.
"I don't think you need any, but would you care for more wine?" she asked pouring herself a goblet. The still dumbfounded women just nodded in response. "Here, it's probably a waste of good wine, but this is one of my favorites."
Both girls accepted the goblets given to them whispering their thanks and refocused on their host. For someone who had just had her first date with her soul-mate, Regina didn't radiate the way she was supposed to. The queen looked tired and pensive, and if they looked closer, a little bored?
"What's the matter, Regina?" questioned her blonde friend.
"There's no matter at all."
"Ha, I'm not Emma, but even my bullshit detector pinged." Said Red standing up and going to look at the pictured on the mantelpiece. Wait pictures? Despite annoyed, Regina smiled at the mention of the savior's name, what didn't go unnoticed by the former pixie.
"I'm not lying! It was simply not what I expected." She replied.
"We've talked about this before, Regina, it's your second time around, it's not going to be like the first one." Reasoned Tinker Bell. "But please, tell us everything! I'm dying to know. Was he charming?" Red chuckled at her choice of words making Regina roll her eyes for the nth time this night. She should quit doing that, if it was up to these ladies, she might strain her eye muscles.
"How come you have photos?" asked Red before she could begin narrating her night.
"They were with me in my hand, I took them from my wallet just before the mist came." Red nodded
"You have some good ones of Henry and Emma too. You should give one to Snow and David."
"Emma? You kept pictured of her?" inquired Tink with one eyebrow raised.
"It was a good picture of Henry."
"It is, look." Confirmed the other brunette handing her said photo. Both Henry and Emma stared back at her smiling their big beautiful smiles. She looked at the next one, a candid one, and saw the three of them siting in a booth at Granny's eating lasagna and laughing at something Ruby had said. She smiled at the family and wished the two missing member would find their way back home. If only she knew then what she knows now… She looked at the former mayor and saw a look of longing that almost made her heart skip a beat.
"So, -Tink began again, now her alcohol buzz not so strong- tell us about him."
Regina told her two friends exactly how things had gone with the knight. How much of a gentleman he had been, their talk about kids and how at the end of the night he had left her with a kiss on her hand.
"Oh my God, after all that waiting and looking at you, I'd have jumped your bones!" grumbled Red.
"I beg your pardon!"
"You heard me, why the hell do you have to play coy? It's not like you are a maiden and have to care about appearances… You should've just done the deed!"
"Ok, I think someone is ready for bed." Interrupted Tink who was now almost sober, differently from her friend who had not stopped drinking since they got there. She held her not too heavy friend over her shoulders and walked towards the door.
"This talk isn't over yet. I'll see you tomorrow. G'night."
"Good night Tink. Red."
"Night Gina!"
###
All those involved in "Operation Simba" try out were already on the move. Remo, Tuck and Robin left with the small group of people right after sunrise, giving them plenty time to gather around the town's entrance forest before midday, the predicted time of arrival of the caravan. Despite knowing she couldn't have gone along, Emma had guilty conscience and kept pacing for over an hour before Henry asked Esmeralda to do something.
"Dear, you're going to make a hole on my floor."
"I'm sorry Esme, I'm just really worried about them being out there and not being able to help just because I have a kid. A lot of them have kids, Remo has kids!" She exclaimed.
"Emma, you know that Henry is not the only reason you're not there. You have never fought before, you have no knowledge about forests or healing. Don't get me wrong, but you could even be a liability out there." The brunette reasoned. "Besides, you're the one with the plan. We can't have you dying on our first try."
"Hey, I'm the savior, the white knight. I broke not one but two curses. Ok, Regina did most of the work on the second one, but the first one was all me!" she feigned being hurt then proud of her work.
"I know, honey, and if they were against a curse or magic, you'd be the one there." She smiled. Emma was right, it was almost like disease, they can't help it, they must help. "I talked to my friends who works at the castle and she said we could visit her today. She works in the kitchen, so after lunch would be a good time."
"Have you talked about it with Henry?"
"I have. He is very excited about it."
"Ok, let's do it then." She said and Esme could still hear the nervousness in her voice. There was something going on between Henry's mothers and she would find out.
###
"Regina, are you in there?" Tink knocked on the library's door and went in. It was early when she had gone to her friend's chambers looking for her. Nobody answered so she went to the place she knew the woman would be looking for a way to bring her son, and his other mother, back.
"I just can't find the reason for my spell not have worked!" the queen threw another book into the discarded pile. "How can I fix something if I don't know where the problem is?"
"Calm down, Regina. Have you thought about what Robin said? Maybe Emma wanted a different happy ending so bad that her magic acted without her knowing and brought her to this realm." She said putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "And because the only way to break Pan's curse was for you not to see Henry again, her immature magic took her to the closest thing possible."
"How am I supposed to bring them back then?" her eyes clouded with tears.
"Honestly?" the brunette nodded "I don't think we can. I think we can only pray they get back on their won. Emma is a smart woman, Henry's too much for his own good. They will find a way. When I left them they were trying to get a potion and a spell to make you forget you met them and implant new memories."
"I still can't believe I met them before."
"Another proof they can do this. They will return to our time, trust them." She reassured her friend. "Now, back to yesterday. What happened?" Regina sighed heavily.
"I told you, nothing happened." She replied looking at her hands.
"My point exactly." Retorted Tink "Why? I thought I heard you say he was charming, yes don't give me that look, that's the word I'm using. You said you bounded over parenthood, he is handsome and a great man. Then, why?"
"I honestly don't know. I thought it was because my head is so full of concern, but to be completely sincere, I just didn't feel like it." She said and felt like this admission took a thousand pounds from her shoulders. It felt good, liberating.
"Aren't you attracted to him?"
"I am, he is very handsome and it has been a while..., but whenever I think about kissing him and raising a new family with him, and Henry of course, I can't help to think about…Emma."
"What do you mean?" she pushed the queen into keep talking with a smirk on her lips.
"I don't know. Maybe I feel guilty about having a new family with Henry and her being left out."
One step forward, two steps back. The pixie thought. "That would not keep you from kissing him, maybe from marrying him in the future…"
"Do you think the fairy dust could have an expiring time? That maybe after Storybrook and the person I became there, my soul-mate could not be the man with the lion tattoo, but somebody else?" the queen questioned with what looked like hope in her eyes.
Tink's smirk grew. "Now, we're talking." She thought out loud "I can't say for sure. Once again, no precedents in your case, I'm afraid. Do you have somebody else in mind?"
"No!" she answered a little too fast for her own liking. Do I?