A/N: So, so sorry for the major delay between posts. Updates will be slow for a while. I've been working on this since I posted the last chapter, but there are a lot of things keeping me busy these days. I am not abandoning this story or any of my other Swan Queen stories, but chapters will be farther between than usual. Hopefully, this one doesn't disappoint. ;)
Best Laid Plans
Chapter 15
"Okay. I am seriously never riding a horse again," Emma complained as she, Henry, and Regina headed back to the palace on Mireya and Sammy.
Emma shifted on Sammy as she moved along at an all too steady and slow pace. She grimaced and squirmed without a saddle beneath her and yet, she was the only one having difficulty riding.
"Quit whining," Regina lightheartedly scolded with a smile.
"Excuse me, but I'm not a skilled rider like someone else here. There's..." Emma shifted again then yelped and hissed before she hunched over and tried to reposition herself again. "There's chaffing and throbbing and lots of other uncomfortable things happening in very bad places."
Regina's smile curled into a pleased smirk.
"Tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying," Henry piped up as he looked over at Emma with a disgusted look on his face.
"I'm saying exactly what you think I'm saying, kid."
"Gross!"
"No, gross is the fact that I haven't felt this messed up since I pushed you out in the delivery room," Emma said through partially gritted teeth as she tried one position after the other and tried not to fall off Sammy at the same time.
"Mom," Henry exclaimed. "I don't want to know."
Regina wanted to yell at Emma for purposely scarring their son, but she honestly couldn't care as she watched Emma struggle again and again to get comfortable. She only smiled and grinned and raked her eyes over every part of Emma's wriggling body.
"Uh huh. Now you wish you hadn't said anything about my pain now, don't you," Emma rhetorically asked.
Henry made a few noises to further express his repulsion and after Regina took a moment to look back and forth between Henry and the blonde, she patted Henry's bicep and grabbed his attention.
"Do you think I can use magic to conjure Emma a saddle? It might make things easier on her," Regina explained to him.
Henry sighed and looked between his two mothers, his brunette mother behind him on Mireya and his blonde mother wincing all by herself on Sammy.
"Yeah, if it'll make her stop talking about her...situation," Henry agreed.
Regina chuckled.
"But just this once," Henry sternly added.
Regina nodded and continued to smile as she turned her focus toward Emma then gracefully flicked her wrist.
In wisps of purple smoke, a saddle appeared underneath Emma. The instant the blonde felt it, she sighed with relief. It didn't completely alleviate the pain Emma felt, but it lessened it enough for her to find a comfortable and maintainable position.
"Next time, I want a saddle to begin with," Emma said as she gripped at the edge of the saddle and balanced most of her weight on her hand.
"Oh, so there will be a next time," Regina teasingly asked.
Emma shot her a glare.
Regina grinned.
"Maybe you can magic me a heating pad because this is serious," Emma said.
Regina's cheeks reddened from the laughter she tried to contain.
"We're almost there," Henry said.
"'Almost there' feels like an eternity to my–"
"We'll be there soon," Henry raised his voice and cut Emma off with wide eyes to prevent himself from hearing anymore disturbing things from his birth mother.
Emma groaned and shifted on the saddle.
"Soon isn't soon enough," she muttered even as they approached the palace entrance.
"Well, it seems we didn't run into any ogres today," Regina started as the distance between the palace and the three of them dwindled. "Although if I remember correctly, they don't usually roam around until the start of nightfall. Either way, we should consider ourselves fortunate."
"Tell that to my thighs," Emma continued to complain.
The horses came to a stop in front of the stone steps that led to the palace and Henry and Regina were the first to dismount.
"Holy...hell," Emma bit out as she cringed with every slight movement of her leg.
Regina looked at Emma then at Henry.
"Go inside and find your grandparents. If you're hungry, ask them to make you something. I'll worry about Emma," Regina said.
Henry looked past Regina at Emma before he locked eyes with Regina again. He saw the sincerity in her eyes, in her entire expression. He knew he could trust her.
"Okay."
He lingered for a second more then turned away from them and disappeared inside the palace.
Regina walked over to Emma and gently grabbed the woman's calve.
"Easy," Regina calmly instructed. "Push through it, but at your own pace."
"I feel like everything below the waist is on fire," Emma said through clenched teeth as she moved slower.
"I'm sure Henry's birth was much more painful."
"Yeah, but this is a close second. Ah!"
Only half of Emma's leg had been swung over the horse before the blonde stopped everything and just clutched at the saddle as her body clung like to Sammy like a koala bear.
"You're almost done," Regina encouraged her as she let go of Emma's leg and started to rub the small of Emma's back.
"I can't. I don't want to do it anymore. Just magic me off the horse," Emma said and sounded on the verge of tears.
"Take a deep breath," Regina soothingly started. "And just slide off."
Emma scrunched up her face in confusion as well as pain at the tone of voice uncommonly heard from the brunette beside her.
"Why are you being so nice to me," Emma asked through gritted teeth as she attempted to bite back the soreness in her lower body.
"Why don't you focus on getting your ass out of my face before you start asking questions about my behavior," Regina rhetorically asked, her voice back to her usual annoyed and raspy timbre.
Emma grunted and finally managed to fully dismount from the horse. She jumped down onto her feet and hissed when she felt her thighs tremble from the shock of hitting the ground once again. Slowly, she turned around to face Regina who stood nearby, but kept her hands to herself without any offer to help Emma more than she already had.
"For someone who kissed me pretty passionately in Tink's hideout, I think you actually enjoyed my ass in your face," Emma teased with a smirk.
"Excuse me, but I believe it was you who kissed me," Regina quipped as she turned toward the palace and started to head up the steps.
"Mm, I may have initiated it, but I certainly didn't grab at you like I wanted so much more. Can you honestly tell me after all that we've been through now that all I'm getting is your stupid shirt?"
Regina's jaw dropped just a bit at those words. She turned her head to look at Emma while the two of them walked toward the palace entrance side by side.
"I don't know what's more troublesome about that question. The fact that you think one of my most comfortable shirts is stupid or that you think you stand a chance with me," Regina said as she continued to climb the small set of stairs up to the double doors of the palace.
"Okay, well, you can pretend all you want, but I know you felt something when you kissed me. I had nail marks on my hips for most of the next day to prove it."
Regina closed her mouth only to gulp and avert her eyes to help conceal the blush that crept across her cheeks.
Both women reached the palace entrance, but Emma gently wrapped a hand around Regina's forearm, close to the brunette's elbow, and stopped them before they went inside.
"Look, I don't know what's going on between us. Blame it on the heightened emotions of losing Henry and the hurried search to find him, but...it was...nice."
Regina nearly scoffed as if that was the very least Emma could say about their situation.
"And I'm not just talking about the kiss," Emma continued when she saw the less than pleased expression on Regina's face. "The way we talked when you made me hot chocolate. That was nice too. I mean, the subject matter wasn't, but I'm pretty sure we needed to get that stuff off our chests."
Regina had no response prepared and none that came naturally to her either. She was speechless.
"So," Emma awkwardly said after an uncomfortable moment passed between them. "You think we should split time between who's bed Henry sleeps in each night until he can sleep by himself again?"
"I..." Regina shook her head to clear her thoughts and break out of her inability to speak. "I figured Henry would decide where he sleeps. If he comes back into my room tonight, that's where he'll stay. If he goes to yours..."
Emma nodded her head in agreement as Regina trailed off, though she wasn't too happy about Regina's answer. It made sense and it was fair to Henry for him to choose which mother he went to if he needed one of them, but Emma feared things would turn out the way they had the night before. She worried she wouldn't be able to sleep until she at least saw the kid, but even that wouldn't be enough. And she wasn't sure if she could get away with sharing Regina's bed again just to get a good night's rest.
"We should probably head inside before your parents think I did something awful to you," Regina said, effectively pulling Emma from her thoughts as the brunette turned toward the palace doors and stepped out of the younger woman's loose hold on her.
"Right," Emma forced a smile as she followed after Regina.
When they walked in together, Regina didn't know what she'd expected from the Charming's. She truthfully almost hadn't thought about it at all. But when she found Snow White and her darling prince in the drawing room, she had not expected the look on Snow's face.
Henry sat with Charming as the two of them played with a few possessions that had somehow luckily remained intact after the curse's destruction of the land. The objects weren't necessarily play things, but Charming and Henry hadn't hesitated to tinker with them regardless.
Snow stood near the drink cart with a smile on her face as she watched them talk about the artifacts, Henry with wide-eyed wonder and Charming with joyous pride. Once she noticed the blonde and brunette finally join their little group, her features changed from the soft and happy glow that made her appear as precious and ethereal as her name suggested. Instead, she seemed struck with a slightly alarming idea or two at the sight of Regina and Emma together.
Regina physically stayed a step ahead of Emma and the two hadn't even so much as held hands upon their entrance so the former Evil Queen hadn't understood Snow's expression. Suddenly, the Savior's mother appeared to have seen something the others hadn't.
Snow seemed stunned, but it was different than all the times Regina had seen the woman visibly shaken, especially when it had been by her own doing. She stared mostly at Regina though she did manage to look between the two mothers, both blonde and brunette.
"Hey," Charming greeted with a warm smile as he looked up at Emma and Regina in the archway of the room.
Apparently, he was the only one with enough sense to talk at that moment.
"Henry said you three had a good time on the horses today," Charming tried to make conversation.
"Yeah," Emma replied from behind Regina.
Snow and Regina seemed to separate themselves from the room entirely as they just stared at each other. The tension between them was palpable, but no one else seemed to notice their silence and awkward staring.
"Although, I'm glad I've never had to ride a horse before because I swear I broke my hymen for a second time when I was on that thing."
Henry scrunched up his face in confusion while Regina and Snow instantly and simultaneously blinked out of their little moment to oddly stare at Emma.
Charming's eyes widened and he coughed as though to clear his throat while his entire body tensed.
Emma looked from Charming to Snow and lastly, to Regina.
"What," she asked when she saw Regina's expression.
The brunette hadn't seemed happy to hear the woman's comparison of riding a horse to losing her virginity, but Emma remained blasé about the statement she casually defended as though there was nothing wrong with what she'd said.
"What's a hymen," Henry asked, his face still scrunched up.
Regina took a deep breath through her nose as she slowly turned from Emma to Henry.
"Something you don't need to know about for a few more years at the very least," Regina explained.
Emma licked her lips then guilty smiled at Henry before Regina turned back toward her. Chocolate colored eyes narrowed as she glared at the blonde.
"Sorry," Emma mouthed.
"Right, well, how about dinner," Charming loudly said as he quickly tried to change the subject.
"Yes," Snow just as quickly agreed as she moved forward to stand at Charming's side. "It's been a long day apparently."
Snow paused in her speech and stared straight at Emma when she said "apparently" before she continued.
"I'm sure one of you is hungry."
"Yeah," Henry excitedly jumped up with a big smile on his face. "What are we having tonight, Grandma?"
Snow kindly smiled down at him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What would you like, Henry," she asked.
"I don't know," Henry shrugged. "What do you eat in the Enchanted Forest?"
"Fresh kill," Emma muttered.
Snow clucked her tongue in a tisk of disapproval as she looked at Emma as any scolding mother would look at their misbehaving child.
"I want to have something we can't get back in Storybrooke. If I can't have a sword and be a real prince then I want everything else to be as close to what life is like here as possible," Henry said as he looked between his mothers and Snow.
"You really don't," Regina dejectedly corrected her son, but he was the only one to not notice her words.
Emma, Snow, and Charming all looked at Regina with their own interpretation of the woman's words. The only one that seemed the most empathetic if not sympathetic was the Savior.
Of course.
"We can make this land's specialty," Charming spoke up again and deferred all attention back to Henry's request. "And you can help me catch it."
"Really?! Cool," Henry said with impossibly wide eyes as he beamed up at Charming.
Charming chuckled and clapped a hand on Henry's back as he started to walk him toward the palace's rear entrance.
"Be careful," Regina said more to Henry than Charming, though for some reason there seemed to be enough concern in her statement for the both of them.
"And please watch out for the ogres," Snow added as she walked closer to the others.
Charming confidently smiled at Snow like a mischievous but careful man. It was a smile similar to his princely grins that he displayed to Snow when she was most worried or controlling. And just as it always had then, the smile disarmed her in that moment as well.
"We'll be safe," Charming assured Snow before he looked at Regina and silently promised the same thing.
Charming patted Emma's shoulder as he guided Henry out of the room and sincerely looked at her in a fatherly way that strangely only looked like a softer version of the look he'd given Regina seconds earlier.
When they left the three women alone together, an awkward silence enveloped the room and no one knew what to do. After several long seconds ticked by, Emma spoke up.
"So...what passes as a shower around here?"
"The best you can do here is a bath and that requires water," Regina answered.
"Okay. Where can I get some water?"
Snow closely watched their interaction as she allowed Regina to answer all the questions she herself could have fielded. Though it wasn't a stimulating conversation between Regina and Emma, there was still something to be said for the way they seemed almost attuned to the other person's unspoken wants and needs.
"There's a water pump nearby that gets water from the closest stream. You'll need a few buckets to collect the water before you pour it into the tub connected to your room."
"Stream water? That doesn't sound sanitary," Emma said.
"It's that or you'll reek the rest of the time we're here. And by Henry's apparent excitement about the Enchanted Forest, that might be a while."
Emma sighed out of frustration as she sagged her shoulders and almost pouted like a petulant child.
"Fine. Then can you help with the water?"
"If it gets you to stop your wining," Regina said as the two of them started to walk out of the drawing room.
Snow furrowed her brows as she hesitantly followed the two of them into the large foyer.
"How many buckets do you think we'll need," Emma asked.
"As many as we can carry. They aren't very big and the tubs are fairly luxurious."
Emma groaned.
"Why couldn't I go with David instead and get someone else to get the bath ready while I was out," Emma rhetorically asked, but Regina replied anyway.
"Because all the servants that used to work here are currently in Storybrooke."
Snow stopped where she stood and watched Emma and Regina head toward one of the servant's chambers to retrieve the pales Regina had mentioned. It astonished her to realize Regina apparently remembered their location, even after almost thirty years.
"What do we have here," Hook asked as he tapped the point of his metal appendage and raked his eyes over the Neverland native.
"I'm not interested in a conversation with you," Tink tiredly, almost angrily, said as she barely even glanced up at her present company and twiddled with a piece of jewelry the pirate and the fairy both knew wasn't hers.
"Sitting in the Queen's bed," Hook ignored the blonde's implied request to leave and slowly stepped into the room. "That's a risky thing to do."
"She won't hurt me," Tink said.
"And why is that, love? You think she fancies you enough to accept you between her sheets?"
"With her in them as well? It's not as strange as you think."
Hook's eyebrows shot up toward his hairline, intrigued and surprised.
"Really," he stated more than asked. "Have you been with her in that capacity?"
"That's none of your business, pirate," Tink said as she kept her eyes on the ring in her hand, one she noticed Regina spun around her finger whenever she was nervous.
"Someone's a little testy," Hook said with a small and crooked smirk.
"I've never been with Regina in that way, no, but there were a few times when we..." Tinkerbell trailed off as she struggled to voice the things she saw pass through her mind like a photo reel of memories that came to light.
"Quite the scandal," Hook said as he sat on the edge of the bed not far from where Tink sat in the middle. "Our hot headed Queen likes a good lass or two. That's as shocking as it is attractive."
Tink rolled her eyes.
"It doesn't matter. There's only one woman Regina's interested in these days."
"You'll let me know when she comes to find you then, right?"
The fairy scoffed.
"Even if it was me she was interested in, I still wouldn't tell you when the mood strikes."
"Oh," Hook blinked. "She doesn't fancy you then?"
"Not the way she likes her."
"Am I detecting a little jealousy, mate?"
Tink kept her mouth shut and watched the room light catch the green diamond and glimmer.
"You really like her," Hook said as he took note of Tink's state.
"We were friends. A long time ago. I thought we could... When she said we could fix everything in Storybrooke, I thought she wanted to start over."
"You thought you could be more than friends?"
"No, that's not– Maybe that's what I truly wanted, but I thought I could just be friends again. I've been alone since she left me to my protected part of Neverland. I had hoped that having her back would mean I wouldn't have to be alone anymore."
"Aye," Hook somberly started. "I too have suffered a lonely fate. It didn't much bother me, not any more than not having Milah around, but I think all this time helping out Swan has got me thinking I need something else. I need more than myself."
Tink looked up with sad but hopeful eyes that twinkled as she met his gaze.
Neither one of them moved, but neither of them moved away either.
"I've seen how you look at her," Tink said after a minute. "I know you like Emma too."
"Too?"
"I'm not someone you can use as a substitute for the real thing. If all you want from me is at least the idea of having Emma or replacing her with the next best thing, I won't do it."
Hook shook his head.
"I just don't want to be alone. I never said anything about replacing Swan for something, someone, tangible. I know I'm a lowly pirate that's made it more than clear he prefers to have the company of a woman in his bed rather than as an equal, but I think you and me could be good companions. What do you say?"
"I think...that might be a good idea."
Hook smiled.
"But if you try anything," Tink sternly started as she pointed a warning finger at the pirate.
Hook smirked as he held up his hand and hook in surrender.
"You can use fairy dust on me or send me off to Regina for that woman to do her worst. I get it. I won't try anything."
Tink lowered her hand and flashed an amused smile. "Okay...mate."
Emma emptied a pale into the tub as Regina lifted her own to help draw the blonde's bath. They each had two buckets to collect water in the fewest amount of trips to the pump and so far had filled the tub halfway. The work it required to carry both pales back to the palace, and even further up to the tub in her chambers on the second floor, made Emma's arms almost as sore as her legs. She knew she needed the bath for more than the simple reason of getting clean. She needed it to relax those aching and exhausted muscles.
"What are the chances this water has the magically ability to cure the pain in my body," Emma asked as she stepped away from the tub so Regina could pour out her bucket.
"Zero," Regina asked. "I'm sure you'll recover soon enough, however."
"And what makes you think that?"
"You're in shape and you've managed to fight your way out of worse scenarios."
Their eyes locked and the two of them immediately stilled. A moment passed between them that spoke volumes without a single word having actually been spoken.
"So have you," Emma quietly said as she kept her eyes set on Regina's.
Regina thickly swallowed an imaginary lump in her throat, the feeling of it brought on by the intensity of their gazes and the emotions that strongly flowed between them.
"Shall we get more water or do you think you can bath with what you have," Regina asked as she broke eye contact to inspect the tub.
"Uh," Emma sputtered out as she followed Regina's eyes to the tub. "Yeah, I think this is good. Do you want to take a bath too? I can...help get you water too. You helped me, I help you?"
"No, that's fine. I'll get my own water," Regina said as she briskly tried to flee the room.
"Regina," Emma called out as she scrambled to hurry after her.
"I'll see you downstairs after your bath," Regina threw over her shoulder as she swiftly toward the chamber door.
"Regina, wait," Emma said as she hopped beside Regina then slid between the brunette and the door, effectively pinning herself against it.
Regina pulled herself back a step to put a small amount of distance between the two of them and waited with slightly widened eyes to hear what Emma had to say.
"Let me repay you for helping me, okay? We don't even have to talk if you're uncomfortable."
Regina calmly exhaled.
"Fine."
Emma started to smile.
"But no talking," Regina warned.
And they didn't talk.
They didn't talk as they filled bucket after bucket with water. They didn't talk as Regina struggled to carry up her buckets on their second trip to her bathroom or when Emma's hand brushed over Regina's as she took one of the pales from the brunette to lighten the weight. They didn't talk when they filled Regina's tub with three more pales worth of water than Emma's or when they parted ways at Regina's door.
They left all four buckets outside of Regina's chambers in the hallway before Emma headed back to her own room and Regina closed the door upon Emma's departure. All without a single word uttered by either of them.
It hadn't been awkward either. They had managed to work together without vocalizing anything and left on good terms though they'd never even said "see you later" or exchanged a "thank you" and "you're welcome."
Regina went to her bath while Emma went to her own. Emma smiled as she disrobed and stepped into the warm water of her bath while Regina pondered the near insanity of her feelings for one Emma Swan.
She questioned the ability of Jack Sparrow's compass then wondered if it would be so terrible to want Henry's biological mother. She loathed Emma's parentage and the fact that it meant she had Snow White's blood in her veins, but then she accepted the fact that Henry did as well and she couldn't hate him for that or anything else. So how could she hate Emma for something the blonde had no control over?
Though she never hated Emma for that. Just as she never really hated Snow for having a child. She did, however, hate that she'd started to develop some kind of positive feelings toward her former stepdaughter's offspring and rightfully for more than one reason.
Regina spent most of her bath condemning the idea of her and her technically step-granddaughter only to wish the woman would kiss her again, knowing it would quiet her thoughts and strike a spark deep within her she hadn't felt in too long a time.
Though Regina had many conflicting and heavy thoughts during her bath, she still seemed to finish before Emma when she returned to the first floor of the palace to discover everyone except the blonde and Rumpelstiltskin in the dining hall. She furrowed her brows at the strangeness of Emma's absence, but followed the laughter that led to one of the kitchens instead. She checked in to see Henry happily learning how to prepare their dinner with Snow and Charming on either side of him before she decided to check in with Emma.
She paid no attention to Tink and Hook, who suddenly seemed like old friends as they sat and talked at the dining table, and headed up to Emma's chambers. She knocked a couple times without any kind of response before she took it upon herself to enter.
Regina slowly pushed open the door and cautiously stepped into the room unlike her usually nosy or overly confident self that would burst into a place without a care as to whom she disturbed or what she found inside.
"Emma?"
Regina took a few more steps into the room and heard the smallest of shuffling in the adjoining bathroom before a familiar blonde padded out from behind the door and into the bedchamber.
"Regina," Emma exclaimed with surprise as she looked at the other woman with a deer-in-headlights expression.
"Sorry to intrude," Regina started. "I thought you'd be downstairs before me and then you weren't so I thought..."
Regina's eyes refused to stay on Emma's face as she scanned over the younger woman's body.
Emma had yet to put on her shirt and stood only in her tight jeans and the bra Regina had been generous enough to conjure for her the last time Emma needed clean clothes.
The woman's exposed abs were still wet from the bath as well as most of Emma's hair, though the ends had started to curl from self-drying in the time between the bath and that current moment.
"I was waiting for my hair to dry. I had to shake it out a few times and then, well, whatever. You came to check up on me?"
Emma's lips pulled up into a small and lopsided smile.
"I thought Henry would be worried if you were the only one not at dinner," Regina lied, though it wasn't too bad a lie since Henry probably would have worried if Emma hadn't shown up in the dining hall.
"Is dinner almost ready then? I mean, I don't really want whatever it is they're cooking, but damn I'm hungry."
Regina shook her head.
"No, no. They're still making it. It seems Henry's enthralled in the whole process. Though they are at least halfway done preparing it."
Emma nodded.
"Okay. Um, I can be down there soon, it's just that I don't have anything to dry myself off with and my clothes are dirty and I've lived through worse, obviously, but clean body and dirty clothes isn't exactly high on my list of favorite things."
Regina waved her hand toward the end of Emma's rambling and when the purple smoke cleared, Emma's hair was dry and the woman had a new outfit on that included new panties and a bra that were covered by a shirt and jeans.
"Thanks," Emma said after she took a few seconds to look over her clothes.
"You're welcome," Regina curtly nodded before she looked down at the floor.
After a moment of tense silence, Emma took a few steps toward the bed and shamelessly barreled through the quiet.
"So...we got him back," Emma reverently said with an upward twitch to her lips in a small, relieved smile.
"Yes, we did," Regina smiled back.
As simple and as common as those words were, Emma was brought back to that moment in the mines after they'd worked together to stop the trigger. There was the same emotion in Regina's voice then as there was in the minutes before their journey into Neverland. Emma was stunned by the similarity, but she was caught more off guard by the electricity and raw emotions between the two women in that grand yet somehow suffocating space.
Regina cleared her throat and caught Emma's attention before she sliced through their impromptu moment of reflection.
"I doubt Henry will be pleased to hear I used magic to conjure your clothes."
"Only if we tell him," Emma shrugged. "He doesn't need to know you used your magic to help me with something small but kinda necessary."
Regina raised an eyebrow.
"What? Just because I agreed to be your magic monitor doesn't mean I'm gonna rat you out for every little spell," Emma explained. "When you start stealing hearts or torturing people, that's where I draw the line."
Regina flashed a quick and not too forced smile.
"Thank you."
Emma replied with a goofy smile that Regina loved but also hated because of how it made her feel.
Regina hadn't spent much time in Storybrooke with that smile of Emma's, but in Neverland things had changed. Things had changed before Neverland, but it took trekking through the woods on a mission to save their son for her to realize it.
"Um, so dinner," Emma poorly attempted to change the subject.
"Isn't too close to being ready," Regina supplied. "I thought we covered this."
"Will I even like it?"
"It's wild game. Did you like what you ate the first time you were here in the Enchanted Forest?"
"Not everything was bad," Emma shrugged.
Regina chuckled and walked further into the room after she gently closed the door behind herself.
"What was your favorite thing to eat here," Emma casually asked, oblivious to the closing of distance between the two of them.
"I particularly enjoyed roasted swan," Regina wickedly grinned as she caught Emma's eyes at the end of her statement.
"That's a thing," Emma asked, her eyes slightly wider than they had been moments ago.
"It's a delicacy," Regina practically purred as she continued toward Emma who had also started to step toward her, the two almost meeting halfway.
"You ate swan," Emma asked, still baffled by the admission.
Regina laughed and nodded.
"I didn't enjoy it too much though. Only because one of the few times I'd had it, Rumpelstiltskin taunted me and then I...I fell off a balcony."
"You fell?"
"Yes," Regina quickly answered. "Why is that so hard for everyone to believe?"
"No one just falls off a balcony, Regina."
"Well, I did."
The two of them stopped just in front of each other and kept their eyes locked. Silence surrounded them yet again and the two of them stared and stared.
"It wasn't easy then, was it," Emma quietly asked.
Regina gulped and shook her head as she refused to look away from the blonde.
"And yet, here you are," Emma said before she smiled, amazed. "You fought for this. For Henry."
"So did you," Regina struggled, but managed, to say above a whisper.
Emma reached out and brushed back a strand of Regina's hair before she ran her thumb across the other woman's cheekbone. After a few seconds, Emma smiled and leaned in.
Regina closed her eyes as Emma's mouth slowly moved closer to hers.
Their lips touched and at first, the kiss was chaste. It was like a sample of ice cream at the creamery: just a little taste before either getting more or choosing something else.
Emma's other hand came to rest on Regina's hip and pulled the brunette closer as she deepened the kiss the second time around. She wanted more. Not something else, not someone else. She wanted more of Regina.
Regina passionately kissed back, more than ready to dive into whatever resided between herself and the blonde she spent too much time wanting to get the hell out of her town. She grabbed Emma's biceps and squeezed before she lightly raked her nails up the younger woman's arms then wrapped them around her neck.
Emma ran her hand down Regina's cheek and pressed against the brunette's warm chest. She paused for a brief moment there before she continued her descent down Regina's side and felt out the woman's curves through her clothing. She settled her hand on Regina's other hip and spun them before she carefully pushed the woman toward the bed.
Regina pressed a hand to the back of Emma's neck and tangled her fingers in the woman's blonde hair. She arched her back and broke the kiss before she gently pulled Emma's lips down to her throat.
Emma placed a few kisses down her neck toward the brunette's collarbone than briefly separated herself from the woman's skin to kiss Regina's plump and addicting lips again. After that one searing kiss meant to make Regina crave more, just as Emma craved more of Regina, she pulled back to look into brown eyes for confirmation.
Regina could have chose to run away, to put an end to the possibility of over-involving herself with Emma. It was one thing to share their son, it was another thing entirely to share a bed for more than the purpose of sleep.
But she didn't run away. She let the warmth and sincerity of Emma Swan and her loving touch consume her. She leaned in and kissed Emma to show the woman she wanted to go further.
Emma smiled into the kiss before she wrapped an arm around Regina's waist and lowered them onto the bed. She continued to mold her lips to Regina's a few more times as she pulled her arm out from under the brunette and used it to feel more of Regina's body.
Regina whimpered as she felt Emma's fingertips dance across part of her abdomen and she spread her legs apart for Emma to fill the space between them in whatever way the blonde wanted.
Emma took the other woman's cue and slunk down between Regina's parted thighs. Her hips nudged Regina's thighs further apart so they snugly fit together as she started to push her hand up from the brunette's hip to her ribs. Her fingers slipped partially under Regina's shirt and pushed it up with her during her ascent toward one of Regina's breasts.
Regina moaned and arched her back under Emma's touch before she reached around Emma's back and grabbed the hem of the blonde's shirt. She curled her fingers as she clawed at the fabric while she started to peel the shirt off Emma's back.
When the shirt reached the band of her bra, Emma broke their kiss and helped Regina strip her of the garment.
Regina flung the shirt behind them as she threw her hands over her head while Emma's lips came back down on hers. She brought her hands up into blonde hair and held the sides of Emma's face as they kissed and she slid her tongue across pink lips in a silent request for entrance.
Emma parted her lips and met Regina's tongue with hers in a playful dance that soon turned into a battle for dominance. When neither of them won, they slowed the kiss and took that opportunity to just enjoy it and the complexity of their bond.
A moment later, Emma moved down to kiss Regina's neck and tasted the crook between the woman's neck and shoulder as well as the spot right below the woman's ear. She then moved to the space between throat and clavicle and swiped the flat of her tongue over olive skin for a good lick that trailed all the way back up to Regina's jaw.
Emma pulled up and away from Regina's mouth to ensure she didn't kiss the woman again then pushed the rest of Regina's shirt up to the brunette's bra and lowered her hot mouth onto the newly exposed skin. She peppered a few kisses down Regina's stomach before she dipped her tongue inside the woman's navel.
Regina gasped as she instinctively shied away from Emma's tongue like she'd just been tickled and whimpered when she felt Emma press her open mouth against her stomach again and again to get the brunette used to the feeling.
As Emma kissed Regina's stomach, she slid her hands over Regina's sides and pressed the heels of her palms against the woman's hips. She then moved her hands lower and gently pushed Regina's thighs even further apart.
Regina bucked her hips up into Emma's hands while she tightly gripped the sheets on either side of her.
Emma heeded to Regina's need and ran a hand over the woman's covered sex.
Regina's breathing became shallow and she whimpered at the teasing touch.
Emma playfully nipped at Regina's stomach and worked her way back up toward the woman's breasts. She pressed her hand against Regina's center and slid her hand up over the waistband of the brunette's pants, which created a decent amount of friction that caused Regina to moan and tip her head back as she pressed it further into the bed beneath her.
The blonde removed her hand from Regina's lower body in an instant as she focused her attention on the shirt she had yet to completely take off of the other woman.
Regina stared up at Emma with a scowl on her face, but she resisted the urge to groan like a desperate woman. To groan would be to admit she needed Emma and needing someone was just another weakness in Regina Mills' mind.
Emma giggled as she looked at the brunette.
"Easy, Madam Mayor," the younger woman started. "You could kill me with a look like that and we haven't even gotten to the best part of this yet."
"Then stop teasing me, Sheriff, and no one has to get hurt," Regina almost growled.
Emma continued to smile at the woman.
"How about you help me get you out of your shirt if you still want to do this," Emma suggested.
Regina's expression softened and she sat up. As she moved to get up enough to remove her shirt, Emma positioned herself on her knees and leaned back on her feet as she remained somewhat seated between the brunette's legs.
Emma pulled on the hem of Regina's shirt and the other woman lifted her arms. Within seconds, the shirt was balled up in Emma's hand and then discarded somewhere across the room.
Emma smiled and leaned in. She kissed Regina, who rested her hands on Emma's hips before she slid them up the blonde's sides then around her back.
Before Emma knew it, Regina had unclasped her bra and started to pull the straps down her arms.
Emma pulled away long enough for Regina to rid her of the bra then very, very slowly started to move back in toward Regina for another kiss.
Regina lifted a hand to Emma's chest and pressed her fingertips against her sternum in the valley between the blonde's breasts. She moved her hand over the expanse of Emma's chest from where her fingers touched the heated skin to the place above her beating heart. Her eyes wandered along the same path as her hand, but veered off after a moment of inspecting the place above the Savior's heart. She looked down to drink in the sight of Emma's rosy and slightly hardened nipple. She licked her lips before she lifted her head and met the blonde's gaze.
Emma licked her own lips as she normally did whenever she was nervous or self-conscious and stared into darkened chestnut eyes.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but...you aren't about to take my heart, are you," Emma asked.
Regina smiled.
"No. Just admiring the magic I can feel thrumming beneath the surface. And the view isn't bad either."
Emma happily grinned.
"You definitely liked my ass in your face earlier."
"I never said I didn't," Regina smirked. "I just made it clear I didn't want it in my face at that moment."
"Well, Your Majesty...you've got me all to yourself now. Any particular body part of mine you want in your face at this moment?"
Regina's smirk curled into an evil grin as her eyes burned right through Emma's.
"Definitely," Regina purred before she clawed at Emma's hips and flipped her onto her back. "I may not have been your queen before, but I'll be sure to rule you tonight."
Regina closed her mouth around one of Emma's pert nipples and sucked before she flicked her tongue over it between her lips.
"Regina," Emma breathlessly moaned out and arched into the woman's mouth.
Unsatisfied thanks to Emma's earlier teasing, Regina lowered her covered center onto Emma's and started to rock her hips.
Emma moaned again, louder and with more of a strain on her voice as she felt Regina rock against her clit over and over again.
Regina scraped her teeth over Emma's nipple before she gave it a wet kiss then repeated her actions on the neglected nipple.
Emma panted as she reached behind Regina and squeezed the woman's ample ass. She pulled Regina closer with that hand while the woman continued to rock against her and ensured the brunette didn't move even the tiniest bit away from her target.
Regina moaned against Emma's breast while she sucked on the younger woman's nipple then pulled away with a small pop. She then focused her attention on Emma's pants as she slid a hand down Emma's body and the other one met it at the waistband of the blonde's jeans and undid them with ease and efficiency.
She waited no more than a second before she tugged them down as much as she could without Emma's help.
Emma lifted her lower half off of the bed and Regina yanked the jeans down her thighs.
Her pants were off in record time and even though Regina hadn't used magic, Emma was convinced it might have played a part in that somewhere.
Regina lunged forward like a predator and claimed Emma's lips with her own before she rolled her hips and ground down against Emma's sex with less resistance due to the absence of the other woman's jeans.
Emma groaned and immediately started to free Regina from her own pants, which surprisingly happened just as quickly as Regina had gotten rid of her jeans. She looked Regina over from her thighs to her eyes and when she stared up into those familiar brown eyes, she fell into them; fell into Regina.
Emma reached up and gently pulled Regina down to her for a sweet and unhurried kiss. Though Regina had insisted she would rule over Emma, the blonde had other plans for her first time with the Mayor and former Queen. Respect and compassion were two things she knew Regina probably hadn't been afforded in any life and they were definitely two things Emma herself had never been given. So that was her goal. Whether Regina returned the sentiment or not, Emma would do everything she could to give Regina the experience that had been stolen from her.
They tangled themselves up as they unrelentingly kissed, slow and sensual, while Emma unclasped Regina's bra, shimmied out of her panties, and hooked her fingers into Regina's panties. She broke the kiss to breathe, but also took the time to play with the woman's panty line in a silent request to continue.
"Do you think you need permission, dear," Regina asked as she maintained her position above Emma.
"Everyone should need permission, Regina," Emma replied. "Not everyone asks for it, but they should."
Regina's mouth dropped open in shock as she stared at Emma, taken aback by more than the woman's honesty.
"How chivalrous of you," Regina said when her voice finally returned to her.
"I'm a natural White Knight," Emma joked as she shrugged with her back still flat against the bed and her hands settled on Regina's thighs, the woman's panties still on. "Charming even."
Regina smiled and rolled her eyes.
"If you still want to do this, I suggest you refrain from talking about your father during foreplay," Regina said.
"Well, you still haven't given me permission to 'do this' so–"
Regina sighed.
"You may have sex with me, Miss Swan," Regina said.
"'Miss Swan' is a little formal for sex, don't you think?"
"Emma," Regina amended.
The younger woman beamed.
"Let's get on with it," Emma said with a grin and waited until Regina knowingly smirked back before she started to pull down the other woman's panties.
Just as Emma reached Regina's knees and the brunette attempted to move in a way that would permit an easier removal of the undergarment, Emma gripped the backs of the woman's thighs and flipped them over.
Regina landed on her back in an instant and watched Emma strip her of the last bit of her clothes. She was laid naked in front of Emma, her knees bent and legs spread for the younger woman to do what she pleased. She felt absolutely vulnerable and yet, when she saw the way Emma looked at her, she felt indestructible at the same time.
Emma filled the space between Regina's legs with her body as she lowered herself on top of Regina for another kiss and another one after that. When she smiled into one of the kisses, she felt Regina smile as well. She let them revel in the quiet and beautiful moment, the two of them blissful, before she ended the kiss and continued the moment through other courses of action.
Regina arched under Emma's touch as the blonde's fingers swayed over, down, and up her exposed body. She felt the blonde everywhere on her skin and the occasional goosebumps the Savior had created beneath her wandering hands.
Emma's mouth came down to Regina's chest and stomach and lower still as she teased one of the most intimate parts of the woman, though her lips never even felt the other woman's bundle of nerves let alone any other area of Regina's sex. She kissed everywhere in between Regina's hips and clit with no intention for her mouth to travel any further south.
Regina moaned and groaned and tried, though her mind wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea just yet, to bring Emma closer and lower to the place that desired to be touched sooner rather than later.
But Emma fought off every nonverbal request and moved back up Regina's body until she could properly look into the brunette's eyes, one hand pressed onto the bed between their bodies and Regina's parted thighs while the other rested beside the woman's expectant form.
"We made it," Emma said after a moment that she spent just studying Regina's features. "Together."
"I thought we already established that," Regina replied.
"Our best chance..." Emma started and her lips curled into the most extraordinary smile that made the blonde glow. "You're my best chance, Regina."
Regina smiled and breathed out a small laugh.
"And apparently you're mine."
Emma lit up again before she leaned in and kissed Regina, sensual and illuminating.
Regina whimpered into the kiss as Emma then massaged her clit. She jerked her hips up toward Emma and the two of them found a rhythm, a perfect and unique and glorious cadence only they could create together.
Emma slid two fingers through Regina's wet heat before she slipped them inside the other woman who broke their kiss with a gasp.
They started off slow and steady before both needed more and picked up the pace. Though they'd both delved into the more painful and rougher aspects of sex with other partners, together they refused to feel pain.
Emma sped up her pace with passion, not with fury or lust for instant gratification. She kissed Regina until their rushed and erratic breaths made it impossible for their lips to fuze together. She brushed their lips together in a promise for more, but lowered her mouth to Regina's neck. She latched on to the spot below the brunette's ear; a spot Emma quickly figured out made Regina shiver and moan.
Regina ran her hands over Emma's shoulders, arms, sides, down her back, and finally felt out the swell of her ass. She pulled Emma as close to her as possible as she met the woman thrust for thrust and emitted quiet but audible sounds of pleasure each time the heel of Emma's palm brushed and applied pressure to her clit.
Every so often, Emma switched out the heel of her palm for a touch, flick, or circle of her thumb. And Regina's sounds of pleasure became louder every single time.
"Emma," Regina moaned as she held onto the woman for dear life.
Regina clawed and clung to the blonde as she tightened around Emma's fingers while several other muscles tensed as well.
And then, suddenly, Emma found just the right spot when she pushed into Regina.
"Emma," Regina moaned louder, her voice breathy but thick.
Emma understood.
No one before had understood.
But Emma did. Emma was the only one. She understood.
Emma repeated the action a few more times as she rubbed circles over Regina's clit with the heel of her palm to the best of her abilities until–
Regina arched into Emma's touch and threw her head back as a loud and drawn out moan tumbled out of her parted, lipstick-less lips.
Her eyes were squeezed shut tight a split second before Emma felt her let go, unraveled in the most enjoyable way. When evidence of Regina's pleasure coated a little more than Emma's fingers, she watched Regina's expression relax into one of pure bliss.
Regina kept her eyes closed for a couple more seconds before she looked up at Emma, the insufferable woman above her with a smile formed out of awe and admiration for the woman she focused her gaze on. The brunette felt a thin layer of sweat stick to her overheated body as her chest heaved in the aftermath of her orgasm. Her cheeks were flushed as she stared up into shiny green eyes and she tried not to appear so satisfied, but Emma saw right through her.
"I've got to say, Regina, I'm really jealous of you right now."
"And why's that, dear," Regina asked as she continued to pant, her voice partially raspy.
"Because you always look beautiful no matter what."
Regina didn't smile, but she didn't frown or scoff or reject the compliment at all.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I imagine compared to a slob like you, I'll always look beautiful," Regina playfully quipped.
Emma scoffed in mock offense as she lightly slapped Regina's bicep then rolled onto her side next to the exhausted brunette.
Regina turned her head to watch Emma roll over before she too rolled onto her side and faced the blonde.
"Did I ever thank you for saving me from Ursula," Emma asked after a moment.
Regina furrowed her brows.
"I'm not sure," Regina admitted.
"Well, thank you. And thanks for teaching me magic, and for healing me, and for helping Mary Margaret when I asked you to. They call me the savior, but I think it's obvious who the true hero is."
"Surely you're not about to say it's me."
"The woman who not only fights on the side of good, but who also fights herself and her old ways every second of every day. It's you, Regina. Don't act surprised and don't deny it."
"I'm not that woman."
"I told you not to deny it."
"I don't want you to idolize me. I'm not–"
Emma cut Regina off with a kiss, simple and chaste though seconds ticked by before either of them pulled away.
Regina remained in place when Emma pulled back. She opened her eyes a little slower than Emma had and when she did, she saw the blonde's smile once again.
Regina stared at Emma with a ghost of smile on her own lips.
Emma felt the heat in the room rise with that one look even though there was nothing predatory or sexual about it. But there was emotion, true and powerful emotion, in that one look.
Regina leaned forward as her eyes fell from green eyes to pink lips. She sweetly, tenderly, kissed the blonde.
Emma quickly gave into the kiss and offered submission when Regina started to roll on top of her. The blonde moved with her and rolled onto her back to grant the woman what she wanted.
Just like before, Emma and Regina moved together at their own pace. Everything was just slow enough to communicate the compassion in Regina's soft touches.
When Emma reached orgasm, she pulled Regina down for a kiss but hotly moaned against her mouth until her body settled and the wave of pleasure washed over her after the initial crash of her release. Then she kissed the other woman.
Regina tried her hardest not to fall, but her weak and worn out muscles protested to the point of surrender and she collapsed on top of Emma.
Emma wrapped her arms around the brunette and held her while Regina turned her head and moved a little down the woman's body to rest her cheek against the blonde's chest.
"Between you and the horses today, I think I'll be lucky if I can walk tomorrow," Emma said.
"Mm," Regina hummed as she closed her eyes.
"Are you going to sleep?"
Regina took a deep breath and exhaled with another hum.
"I think people will notice if we don't show up for dinner," Emma said as she started to run her fingers through Regina's hair.
"If you don't want me to sleep, I suggest you desist brushing through my hair with your fingers," Regina grumbled, her eyes still closed.
"Not gonna happen," Emma said as she slowly closed her own eyes. "I guess we could spare five minutes, right?"
"There's no way you're leaving here before me, dear," Regina said. "I'm weighing you down and right now I can't seem to find the strength to get up."
"Then I guess it's a good thing I don't mind," Emma quietly said before the talking stopped and both women drifted off.
They rested for what felt like ten minutes, but it was closer to thirty. The sun had been poised to set before they fell asleep and when Regina woke, there was no light in the room. It wasn't entirely dark in the bedchamber, but she knew they had rested far longer than they had agreed.
With a jolt and shake, Regina managed to wake Emma and the two of them scrambled around in the dark for their discarded clothes. Neither spoke unless it was to help the other in their frantic search for panties and bras, which got mixed up and exchanged in the dark.
Regina, once dressed in her pants with her shirt in hand, moved to the chamber door and manually lit the torch on the wall. The orange flame lit up a portion of the room and exposed Emma in only her shirt and panties as she attempted to yank her tight jeans on. For a moment, Regina stopped what she was doing and watched Emma with amusement as she thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Emma's breasts jumping up and down with each tug of her jeans. She grinned as she observed until Emma looked up at her.
"Yeah, yeah, they're dancing for you. Hilarious," Emma sarcastically said before she furrowed her brows and focused her eyes on the brunette's chest. "Is that my bra?"
Regina looked down and noticed it was the same bra she'd conjured for the other woman. She frowned and looked back up at Emma who only had one hand on her jeans as she pulled her shirt away from her chest to inspect the bra she wore.
"We'll have to share," Regina said. "Hurry up and get those pants on. It'll already look suspicious enough if we're late for dinner."
Emma let go of her shirt and rolled her eyes before she resumed the insanely difficult task of pulling her jeans on.
"It's not like I said the same thing before we fell asleep," Emma mumbled, but Regina heard every word.
Regina chose not to comment, however. Instead, she threw her shirt on and went over to help Emma with her jeans.
"You know, what if people found out about us," Emma said as she let go of her pants when Regina eliminated the space between them and grabbed the waistline then started to tug. "I'm not some teenager that has to sneak around when she has sex and that's exactly what this feels like."
"I'm not hiding anything," Regina insisted before she pulled again at Emma's jeans. "But if this is something we want to let your parents in on then I want us to talk to Henry about it first."
Regina pulled again and successfully got Emma into the skin tight denim while she made the blonde dance her way into the pant legs and brace herself on Regina's shoulders. She then zipped and buttoned Emma's jeans for her.
"Is this something to discuss with Henry or was it just this once," Regina asked as she stared seriously into Emma's eyes.
"I'm in this if you are. You, me, and Henry. And...my parents."
"And a fairy and a pirate and an imp," Regina added with a smile.
"I have no problem leaving them out of our love life."
"Love," Regina asked as she raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Oh, come on. Don't make me go all Gracie Hart on you."
When Regina's only response was a look of utter confusion, Emma frowned.
"Seriously? Miss Congeniality? You've never heard of Miss Congeniality?"
Regina still looked lost as to what Emma was saying.
"'You really like me. You want to date me'," Emma sang in reference to the movie.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Emma sighed.
"Okay, if Henry doesn't want to go back to Storybrooke, we're gonna get TV and Internet here so I can show you all the amazing movies you've missed out on," Emma said.
"No indoor plumbing?"
"What?! Of course there should be indoor plumbing!"
"You only said TV and Internet," Regina teased.
"Because I thought indoor plumbing was a given. That's the first thing on the list of how to fix up the forest."
Regina laughed, more like giggled, at Emma's little outburst. It was...adorable in the way that a grown woman suddenly seemed years younger in her argument for indoor plumbing and electronics, like it was ridiculous not to think she was the only one concerned about those things.
Emma glared at Regina in response, but she wasn't actually angry.
"We're wasting time," Emma declared. "Let's go."
Emma grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her out of the room and down the long hall toward the main stairs.
"Finally," Snow exasperatedly exclaimed when she saw Emma and Regina enter the dining hall.
Emma had reluctantly let go of Regina's hand just before they stepped through the double doors that separated them from presumably everyone in the palace. With Regina only a step behind her, she took a deep breath before she pushed open the doors then walked in.
The two of them had only just started to head toward the vacant seats on either side of Henry when Snow spoke and Emma looked up to acknowledge the frustrated woman.
"Sorry," Emma halfheartedly apologized as she took the seat beside Henry that was closest to Snow and Charming.
Regina sat down between her son and Tinkerbell. When she looked beside her at the fairy, the blonde appeared both hurt and angry. She frowned and curiously stared at her old friend before Charming pulled Regina's attention away from her.
"It's okay. We weren't waiting long," Charming said as he smiled at his daughter. "We were about to start a few minutes ago, your mother's just overreacting."
Snow shot a warning glare at Charming.
"I am not overreacting," the woman insisted.
"Easy. I'm okay. Not a scratch on me," Emma said.
"I beg to differ," Regina muttered under her breath.
Only Henry, Tinkerbell, and, with acute listening on her part, Emma heard her.
Henry scrunched up his face in confusion while Tinkerbell looked down at the table and thickly swallowed. Emma tried not to make it obvious that the brunette had said anything so she kept her expression neutral and her gaze directed at Snow and Charming while she secretly and strongly wished she was sitting closer to Regina so she could kick her in the shin.
"Look, I'm here. We're all here. And I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry," Emma said.
"Of course," Snow said as she looked from Emma to Regina.
Snow stared at Regina for a moment before she looked back at Emma then smiled.
"Help yourselves," Snow said to the group.
Not that anyone needed permission to dive into the food, but they all moved toward the two separate serving trays in the center of the table right as Snow finished talking.
Snow and Charming waited until everyone else grabbed what they wanted before they served themselves and watched as everyone but Rumpelstiltskin – who limped in almost unnoticed, magicked his food onto a plate, and made a place for himself away from the others – picked at the food until they got what they wanted.
Tinkerbell and Hook reached for the same tray. Hook stabbed at a good chunk of food as Tinkerbell moved back to give him the first serving, but as he hefted the meat onto a carving fork he looked at her with sympathy.
Hook brought the carving fork toward her and held it above the fairy's plate before he tilted it and piled the meat together on it.
Tinkerbell looked up from her plate and smiled at him. He smiled back then served himself.
Henry had lazily moved toward the other tray while both of his mothers practically dove for it. He knew if he tried to serve himself, even at eleven years old, at least one of his mothers would have gently patted him on the arm or shoulder and told him to sit back while she prepared his plate for him. Henry leaned back in his chair when Emma and Regina reached for the tray and waited for one of them to do what he assumed they would inevitably do.
Emma and Regina went for the carving fork at the same time, but Emma got to it first.
Regina's hand brushed over Emma's and the two of them looked at each other. Emma sheepishly smiled and Regina tried not to smile back before she cleared her throat and looked down at the tray.
Regina pulled her hand away and motioned for Emma to continue.
Emma continued to smile as she focused on the food and picked up the knife on the other side of the tray to help her lift the meat. She then did something that surprised both Henry and Regina and placed the meat on Regina's plate before either Henry's or her own.
Regina tried to conceal the blush that bloomed on her cheeks with a pursed smile, but her appreciation was obvious despite her attempts.
"Thank you," she quietly said so only Emma and Henry heard her.
Henry's eyes darted between both of his mothers as he curiously observed their behavior toward one another.
"You're welcome," Emma said before she grabbed a few more pieces of meat and set them on Henry's plate.
Emma served herself last, but she also gave herself a larger portion than Henry and Regina.
Henry was fine with his serving size, but Regina did the oddest thing.
"Pardon me," Regina politely said to Henry as she reached across him with her fork.
Regina then stuck her fork into two pieces of meat from Emma's plate and grinned as she deposited them onto her own plate, her eyes focused solely on Emma the entire time.
"Steal my food again and see what I do," Emma teasingly warned.
"Please, you're no match for me," Regina said.
"We'll see about that," Emma replied before she tried her first bite, which she enjoyed enough not to spit it back out.
"Henry," Regina said with a frown when she looked over at his plate. "You haven't touched your food yet."
"Yeah, what's up with that," Emma asked as she chewed on her second bite. "By the way, you did an amazing job. It's good."
Regina then tried a piece and moaned her approval as she nodded. She finished chewing before she said, "It is."
"Sorry," Henry said. "I was distracted."
"By what," Emma asked.
Henry stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth and hummed as a smile spread across his face.
"Good," he mumbled through a full mouth of food.
"No talking with your mouth full," Regina lightly scolded.
"Mhmm," Henry said as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Regina while he looked at Emma. He then spoke again as he continued to chew. "What she said."
Emma chuckled and looked over the top of Henry's head at Regina. She shook her head while Regina laughed along with her.
After dinner, Snow cleared the plates and did what she could to scrub them clean without running water as Hook pestered Regina while Emma play wrestled with Henry. Tinkerbell saw the way Regina's eyes always found their way to Emma and Henry and a smile would grace her plump lips so the fairy offered to help Snow in the kitchen to avoid the sight.
Rumpelstiltskin had gone elsewhere and hadn't talked to anyone as he plotted a way to get back to Belle, the only thing he had left to motivate him to do anything. No one else seemed rushed to get back to Storybrooke and he certainly didn't want to have to listen to the one handed pirate sing whenever he purposely wandered down Rumpel's end of the hall at night.
The pirate had spent the previous night outside of Rumpel's chamber door and loudly sang a tune that didn't rhyme and seemingly had no rhythm. Though, Rumpel supposed that part was intentional. Hook probably figured it would drive him crazy, which it certainly did.
Even when Rumpel had yanked open the chamber door and growled out several unpleasant threats, Hook didn't back down. He had slurred his words as he smugly smirked at Rumpel then casually waved his hook around until Rumpel threw him back a few hundred yards with his magic.
Hook had laughed all the way back to his room after he had picked himself up off the marble floor and Rumpel, for the most part, slept well after that. Though he certainly didn't want an encore from his enemy.
Tinkerbell and Snow washed and dried all the plates and trays. Snow thanked the blonde fairy for her help then went up to her bedchamber to check on Charming.
Tinkerbell was left with nowhere else to go but back into the dining hall with the others. When she did, Regina had finally dismissed the pirate and joined Emma and Henry. She sighed and looked away from the happy family as Emma tried a few play fight moves on Regina out of good fun. She stepped up to the pirate who was about to console her with a reassuring pat to the back when a shriek irrupted from the second floor.
Everyone scurried out to the grand foyer and looked up the staircase when Snow White appeared with a sorrowful yet somehow stern expression on her face.
"Charming's gone," she announced.
"Are you sure," Emma asked. "Maybe he's just in another part of the castle. This place is huge."
Snow shook her head.
"He said he was going upstairs to rest. He's not in the room," Snow insisted. "He left."
"Why would Gramps leave," Henry asked.
"I don't know," Snow said as she descended the stairs.
Hook chewed on his thumbnail as he glanced at various spots along the palace walls.
"I'm sure he's fine, Snow," Regina said as she dismissively waved a hand.
"Well, it is kind of weird for him to just leave without telling anyone," Emma said as she looked at Regina.
"Maybe he just needed some fresh air," Tinkerbell suggested.
"Then why wouldn't he just say so," Emma asked.
Tinkerbell shrugged.
"He doesn't have to tell everyone what he's doing every second of the day," she answered. "You should understand that better than anyone, Princess."
Venom seeped out through Tinkerbell's lips when she spat out the royal title and caused Regina to narrow her eyes out of confusion and suspicion as she stared at the fairy.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean," Emma asked as she took a combative step toward Tinkerbell.
"You tell me," Tinkerbell crossed her arms over her chest and stayed in place, but didn't engage in any fighting stance.
Snow watched her daughter try to go toe to toe with Tinkerbell and wanted to sigh at the childishness as well as the fact that the two of them couldn't seem to get along, but her eyes went from the two blondes to the shifty man beside Tinkerbell and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"You know something," Snow accused as she stepped closer to Hook.
"Not a thing, love," Hook quickly assured as he drew his thumbnail away from his mouth and held his hand and hook up in surrender.
"That'd be more reassuring if you weren't backing away," Emma jumped in as she suddenly noticed his odd behavior, her issues with Tinkerbell pushed aside to focus on the lying pirate.
"Look, even if I do know something and Charming is out there somewhere, what would be so wrong about that?"
"The fact that there are ogres out there and he felt that whatever his reason for being out there must be serious if he didn't talk to me about it," Snow growled. "Now you tell me where my husband is or I'll make you hurt in ways you thought a non-evil queen could."
Hook continued to back away as both Emma and Snow stalked toward him like two predators ready to pounce on their prey.
"Where's David," Emma asked Hook, on edge all of a sudden.
Hook tensed, his shoulders raised.
"I don't–"
"Lie to me again and see what I do to the hand you have left," Emma said as she angrily stared him down.
Hook sighed.
"Alright. Fine," Hook started as he relaxed and sounded a little regretful to admit what he was about to say. "He went to Lake Nostos."
"What," Snow and Regina asked in unison.
"Why," Emma asked as she stepped closer to Hook.
"Snow and Henry weren't the only ones affected by Dreamshade," Hook said.
Snow sadly looked down at the floor.
"So, David's been poisoned," Emma stated.
Regina reached out and grabbed Emma's arm. She tried to stop the blonde from getting any closer to the pirate, but Emma yanked her arm free.
"You and him kept quiet about it and now he what? Decided to go to Lake Nostos to go back to Neverland for a cure?"
Hook shook his head and looked down.
"Then what's he doing there," Emma asked.
"The water has regenerative properties," Snow piped up as she lifted her head when she came to the realization.
Emma turned to Snow, her features softer than when she'd interrogated Hook.
"I think he plans on drinking it to try and rid himself of the poison," Snow finished.
"Wh-what happens if it doesn't work," Henry asked.
Hook looked terribly sorry about the answer, but when he looked at Emma's stern gaze he voiced it anyway.
"He'll die."
"I'm going after him," Snow said as she quickly headed for the palace doors.
"You're not going alone," Emma said as she moved toward Snow.
"I'll join you," Regina stated as she looked at Snow.
"Mom, I want to go too," Henry said as he looked up at Regina.
Snow opened the doors and revealed a midnight blue sky.
"It's late," Regina said. "The ogres–"
"But I want to go. I want to see Gramps," Henry pouted.
Regina looked at Emma and her eyes begged the blonde to stay. When she saw Emma stare back at her with determination, she knew she wouldn't win that battle.
"We'll watch him," Tink said as she took a step closer to Henry. "I assume Hook won't be joining you so he and I can keep an eye on Henry."
Regina looked relieved and silently expressed her appreciation to Tink as she mouthed, "Thank you."
"What? No," Henry refused. "That's not fair."
"It's not safe, Henry," Regina said as she guided him toward Tinkerbell.
"But–"
"Listen to Regina," Emma said as she warningly pointed at Henry. "Stay here. We'll back soon."
Henry frowned as Tinkerbell placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them only when the boy made a move to follow his mothers.
"We love you," Regina said before she followed Emma and Snow out the door.
"Fairies can grant wishes, right," Henry asked Tinkerbell once the three women were gone, his eyes still on the door as though his mothers would return instantly.
"Yes, they can," Tink answered.
"Can you grant a wish for me?"
"I'm not really a fairy, Henry. I never got my wings. And only certain fairies can grant certain people wishes."
"Well, is there a fairy out there somewhere who can hear me and grant my wish? Because I really want them all to make it back safely."
Tink looked down at the top of Henry's head and stared at his brown hair with sympathy and concern.
"I'm sure a good boy like you will get your wish," Tink said.
Hook looked at Tink and both of them shared an expression of worry and desperation for hope.
Note: Tell me what you liked about this chapter or what you didn't like. Feedback is always greatly appreciated. :)