They had only been together for a month and were still getting to know each other on an intimate level. Yet, as far as Regina was concerned the last month had been one of the best of her life.
She trusted Emma more than anyone else in town. The brunette felt safe when she vented to Emma about the stress of both her job and her sister, she may have been beginning to love Zelena but she could only take so much of the redhead's mood changes due to her pregnancy. Regina knew she could say and feel whatever she wanted around the blonde and not have to apologize for it. She truly trusted Emma Swan.
However, she still loathed showing any kind of weakness in front of people, even her new lover. So whenever something upset her she kept it to herself and dealt with it in her own ways.
Which is why she had been acting like a total bitch to Emma, and everyone else, for the past few days.
Regina had been snapping at nearly everyone she came in contact with, whether they deserved it or not. Even when Henry had asked her for some extra money for a new backpack she sternly told him to bother her when she was in the middle of doing important work...she had been re-alphabetizing her file cabinets.
When the boy told his other mother about his mom snapping at him, she knew something was seriously wrong.
"Is it me?" Emma asked as she walked into Regina's office.
The mayor did not even look up from her paperwork. "I'm busy," she spoke curtly.
Emma went up to the desk and placed her hand over the form her lover was reading.
Regina looked up with a scowl, "What the Hell do you think you're doing, Miss Swan?"
She faltered slightly at the use of her more formal name, Regina had not called her that since they started dating.
"Getting answers," she said as she stood straight with her eyes still locked on Regina's. "You've been distant the last three days. You've barely taken the time to eat or sleep. You spend nearly all your time here at the office and when you do go home you stay shut up in your study."
"My job is important. Unlike some other people, I can't afford to just sit on my ass, eating bear claws all day."
"Damn it, Regina, this isn't about work and you know it! Hell, you even snapped at our son this morning!"
That made the brunette flinch. She had been regretting her earlier words ever since they left her mouth. She may not have been as harsh with him as she had with other, but he still did not deserve her wrath.
Emma saw the look of regret that crossed Regina's face and took a breath to calm down, "Is it me? Is it us? Everything was going great and then all of a sudden you're treating me almost as bad as you did when I first came into town. What happened?"
Regina stayed silent as she looked back down to her desk and placed her head in her hands.
"Talk to me Regina, please. What's going on?"
The mayor rubbed her forehead, though still did not look up as she spoke, her voice softer than it had been in days, "Just leave it be Emma."
"No," the blonde grabbed a chair from Regina's table and brought it over to sit beside her lover, facing her. "If something's bothering you I want to know about it," she was met with more silence, "Has my idiocy been bugging you even more than usual lately or what?"
Normally, a joke like that would have made Regina laugh, but not this time.
A few moments passed before the brunette spoke. Her voice was so quiet that Emma would have missed it if she had not been sitting so close, "Perhaps we shouldn't be together."
Emma felt her heart drop at Regina's words, "What did I do?" she asked worriedly.
"You did nothing Emma," Regina finally turned to look at her lover. "I just feel like we aren't meant to be."
"Regina, we've barely been together four weeks and until a few days ago everything was fine. What changed?"
The mayor's gaze dropped once more, this time focusing on the slightly open drawer in front of her. Inside, was exactly what had put doubts of their relationship in her head. She honestly just wanted to grab it and show it to Emma to tell her everything, but then those words she had read went through her head again.
Within seconds her mask slipped back into place, it was her biggest self-defense system. Her eyes narrowed slightly and the mouth turned into a cold frown and then look directly at Emma.
"It was a mistake to ever start this relationship, Miss Swan. A lack of judgment on my part. We are much too different for this to work. From now on we will continue to be co-parents to our son, but otherwise, our relationship is over."
Emma looked at her with disbelief, "So that's it? Just like that? Are we not even gonna be friends anymore?"
"As I said we are too different. No kind of relationship would last between us."
Regina could see that Emma was about to argue. She knew what she had to do. She had to push her away to save them both from future heartbreak. So she said the one thing she knew would get the job done, "We both know relationships aren't your thing anyway, Emma. If I recall correctly, your last serious relationship ended with you in handcuffs did it not?"
While her face remained cold, Regina's stomach twisted as she spoke. It only worsened when she saw Emma's body freeze at the mention of Neal.
The blonde's eyes began to mist. She may have known now why Neal had set her up to be arrested, however, that did not erase the sting she felt of being abandoned in prison.
A tear slipped down Emma's cheek as she looked at Regina's emotionless face. "Fuck you, Regina," she said in a stern voice.
Regina flinched at Emma's words, but the sheriff did not notice since she already stood up and turned to leave. She stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her. The sound causing the mayor to flinch once more, her eyes scrunching shut.
The mayor folded her hands on the desk and laid her head on top of them, as the tears began to flow. Emma was the best thing that had happened to her since Maleficent, and now she had just destroyed what they had. Yet, in her mind, she thought she had done the right thing. She had saved Emma from her, but even thinking that it still hurt like Hell.
Slowly, she straightened up as her sobs got louder and poofed herself to her vault, no longer caring about her work. She just wanted to be alone.
Little did she know, someone had been listening outside and heard the argument between her and Emma and watched the blonde storm out. They walked into the office after hearing the sobs, but only saw the last of the purple smoke from Regina's magic. With a sigh, they walked to the desk and sat in the mayor's chair, wondering what they should do, whose side they should take. Then they looked down into the open drawer and saw the letter with Regina's name on it. Curiosity getting the best of them, they opened the letter. As they read, they knew that this single sheet of paper was the cause of all the heartache.
My Queen,
I know about you and our beloved sheriff. I've known you so long that I know how to read you. That look you have in your eyes when you look at her, I know exactly what it means.
But, I must ask, why are you allowing her to waste her time with you? Are you truly that selfish? Nevermind, I know that you are.
The only people who have loved you have suffered because of it, be it death, heartbreak, or imprisonment.
What do you believe will become of Emma if she stays with you? She will only end up getting hurt, or worse if she continues this...this ludicrous relationship with you.
Afterall, how could a demon like you, the Evil Queen, ever make the savior happy?
Regina sat hunched over in a ball on the bed in the hidden room in her vault. Her face wet and her eyes bloodshot with tears. She had no idea how long she had sat there, her only movement caused by her sobs.
However, she immediately brought her head up when she heard someone enter the vault and call her name. It was a voice she would know anywhere.
Emma went through the underground room calling the mayor's name only to be met with silence. When the brunette was nowhere in sight, she knew she had to be hiding in the secret room. She and Henry were the only ones Regina had showed it to. They also knew that is was locked by blood magic and could not get in without Regina opening it for them.
"Regina," the blonde went to the disguised door and spoke softly, "I know you're in there. Let me in, please. We have to talk about what happened."
The brunette remained on the bed, she did not want Emma to see her so broken. She stayed silent, knowing her voice would crack if she tried to speak.
"Fine, then just listen," Emma felt a huge case a deja vu as she continued. "Henry overheard us arguing earlier."
Regina clenched her eyes shut and once again dropped her head down heavily onto her knees as more tears came. The last thing she wanted was to involve their son in this.
"Don't worry though, he's okay," the blonde assured her, knowing what Regina's reaction would be. "He was pretty upset...until he found the letter." Emma waited, hoping for any kind of response, yet she never got one.
Unknowingly to her, the mayor froze for a moment before slowly rising and going to stand by the door, listening closely.
"He gave it to me to read. Regina, whoever wrote this damn thing is full of shit. I love you, Regina Mills. Now, please, open this door."
Hesitantly, Regina waved her hand and the door slowly opened.
"Thank you," Emma said as she stepped into the room. Her heart instantly breaking at the sight of the tear streaks on the brunette's cheeks. She gently enveloped the shorter woman in a hug, holding her tightly. "It's okay," she whispered softly into her ear.
Regina wanted nothing more than to stay in that embrace, but she still stepped back and crossed her arms. She felt more vulnerable in that moment than she would ever care to admit.
"How..." she cleared her throat to, hopefully, strengthen her voice, "How do you know they're not right?"
"Because I know you, Regina. Yeah, you've done some horrible things, but so has nearly everyone else in this town. I used to be a thief, my parents stole a baby from its mother, Ruby ate her first love, Blue took Tink's wings and magic always just because she wanted to be friends with you. And this," she holds up the letter, "whoever wrote this to you is completely heartless. Not to mention how cowardly they are to not even sign their damn name." She had to take a deep breath so her anger over the letter would not get the best of her.
Emma reached out to tenderly take Regina's hand before leading her over to sit on the end of the bed. "Do you have any idea who wrote this thing anyway?" she asked softly.
Regina nodded slightly, "Sidney. I recognize his handwriting."
"Figures. He's always acted like a dick when it came to you."
"But, he's right Emma. Everyone who has loved me has suffered for it." Regina silently cursed herself when she heard her voice crack.
"You and Daniel were young and alone, with no one to help you. And you and Robin were just not meant to be, no matter what some stupid fairy dust said. If you were, he would have come back to you the minute he found out about Zelena.
"But, you and me? We're good for each other, Regina. We compliment each other. We truly love each other. That's proven by how much we fought for each other, how we defended each other. And we share a son who we both love with all of our beings." She squeezed Regina's hand, "If anything or anyone ever tries to take me from you, they are in for a total ass kicking."
Regina could not help the small smile that came to her lips.
"And," the blonde smirked, "I'm one of the few people who can put a true smile on that gorgeous face of yours."
Emma slid down so that she was kneeling in front of the mayor. She reached up to cup Regina's face with her free hand, making sure that she would be heard when she spoke, "I don't give a damn about what you've done in the past. You've proven time and time again that you're as much of a hero as anyone else in town. You are not a demon Regina Mills. You're an angel. My angel. And I love you.
Regina sniffed as tears started to form, "I love you too," she whispered as Emma stroked her tears away when they began to rush down her face again.
The blonde gave her a smile before leaning up to kiss Regina's forehead. The kiss made the brunette's tears come a bit faster. She slid off the bed and pushed Emma back enough so that she could sit in her lap.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm so, so sorry," she mumbled into the blonde's neck.
The sheriff wrapped her arms around Regina and ran a hand through her hair, "It's okay. I promise it's okay. I know what it's like to have people put those kinds of thoughts in your head. None of this was your fault, Regina."
"You...you really forgive me for saying such horrible things to you?" Regina looked up at Emma with pleading eyes.
"Yes Angel," she kissed her forehead again, "I do."
Regina could not help both the blush and the smile that came to her face at her the use of Emma's new name for her.
"But," the blonde spoke up again, "next time something like this happens, and I pray that it doesn't, come and talk to me about it. I know you don't like to talk about fears and insecurities. Neither do I. We both learned a long time ago to hide our emotions, but we need to talk in order for us to work. And I desperately want us to work, Regina." She leaned in to nuzzle the brunette's cheek, making her giggle.
"I promise, Emma." Regina said when the two made eye contact again, "I promise to work on talking to you. It felt like I was squeezing my own heart earlier. I don't want either of us to go through that again."
"We won't," Emma promised.
The two woman sat there and held each other for several minutes until the blonde patted Regina's hip, "We need to get out of here. Henry's waiting for us back home." She pulled both her and the mayor to their feet.
While they were not officially living together yet, Regina loved that Emma still thought of the mansion as her home. The thought made her smile, but it went away as a new thought came to her mind. "I'll have to apologize to him as well. You don't think that he'll..." she trailed off not able to finish to sentence.
"No, he won't hate you for this. Like I said he was upset, but he understood when he read that letter. Speaking of which...," she used her magic to destroy the letter she had left on the floor.
She turned to her lover with a satisfied smile. Then reached to hold her around the waist before whispering in her eye, "We both love you, Angel. Nothing you do could ever chase us away."
Regina smiled brightly, "Are you going to keep calling me that?"
"Yes. Because I want to constantly remind you how special you are to me. You are my angel, Regina. And I am beyond thankful to have you in my life."
Regina leaned up to kiss Emma while bringing her hands up to wrap around her neck. As the kiss continued, Regina became determined to never let her go.