A/N:

Hey guys, it's that time again! This chapter has been one of my absolute favourites to write so far and it continues directly on from last chapter. Drunk!Regina is great and there's a little bit of emotion in there too which was so much fun to write. I hope you enjoy it. If anyone has any comments on what they'd like to happen or where they would like this to go I'm open to any suggestions. I have about 3 more chapters left which are written before I have to start coming up with ideas again! I have a plan but any suggestions (or criticisms, or general love) are always welcome.

Happy reading,

Rosie xx

(I do not own Once or any of its characters no copyright intended, you know the drill).

Emma was about to come up with a sarcastic response to Regina's comment about her being the child of true love when the doorbell sounded from outside in the atrium, signalling that their pizza had arrived. Both women had drained their glass, so the brunette took it upon herself to refill their drinks whilst Emma went to the door.

Regina heard the small exchange; listening to Emma pay the delivery boy politely and quietly shut the door. She reappeared from the kitchen thirty seconds later with plates balanced on top of the two pizza boxes.

"Henry is going to kill us when he finds out we had pizza you know?" Emma said as she walked towards the couch, putting the pizza boxes next to the tray of drinks and setting their plates out in front of them.

"He is…" Regina suddenly realised. "We'll have to save him some," she reasoned, turning to look at the other woman as her reply was heard. Emma was sitting there, a huge slice of pizza being shovelled into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in weeks.

"I can't promise anything," Emma said in all seriousness, her words muffled by the humongous bite of cheesy goodness in her mouth.

"Sometimes I wonder if you really are a Charming," Regina said. Although Emma knew this was another one of the mayor's japes shouldn't couldn't help but allow the words to strike sadness in her. She had never had a family to belong to so the idea of being separated from them - as much as they annoyed her 95% of the time - made the blonde upset. She had been sent away from so many places in her life; places she thought would be her forever home. Still to this day a tiny part of her was terrified that this apparent happiness she had found would be ripped away from her life she had been so used to when she was a child.

"Hey…" Emma said feigning offence to cover up her true feelings, "Its just…when it comes to pizza I cant stop myself, Henry knows that."

Regina looked at the blonde, for a second pausing to consider the absurdity of this situation.

"I suppose he would do the same. Luckily, he does have one mother who isn't a fast-food junkie. He can have some of mine," the brunette replied, proceeding to daintily take bite out of her slice, holding the plate under her mouth to catch any crumbs. Emma hadn't thought to get them any cutlery.

"Thanks. I'm sorry but I'm just like Joey," Emma smiled, "I don't share food."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Regina replied, puzzled, "Joey?"

"You know? Friends?" The blonde asked, bewildered that her brunette counterpart didn't know what Friends was. " You know, Joey doesn't share food!" She mocked his accent and tone, and if Regina had known what it was she would have realised it was a pretty decent impression.

"I'm afraid I do not know what you are talking about. I assume its something from one of those incessantly annoying television shows you seem to so love?"

"Its not one of those "incessantly annoying" shows I watch," Emma replied, using her fingers to make quotation marks in the air, "Its hilarious, and brilliant and one of the greatest shows in the history of television. And…" She said, slowly inching her hand forward to the remote which sat in-between them on the couch. Before the former Queen realised what she was doing, the blonde grabbed the device and pulled it towards herself.

"…We're watching it right now" Emma finished.

"No," the brunette groaned uncharacteristically, "Emma, really? Must we?"

"Yes," Emma laughed, a smile broadening across her entire face at the other woman's words. She mocked, "We must."

Regina simply gave Emma her most conservative of smiles, paired with a raise of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows, and replied "fine." Emma knew that her son's mother was just being difficult. It didn't even annoy her anymore, just amused her.

They settled into a comfortable silence as the blonde retrieved the very first episode of Friends from Regina's on demand service. The younger woman had insisted that they start at the very beginning, considering her elder had never watched it before. She wanted Regina to get the "full experience", as she explained. The episode started and both women continued to eat their pizza; Emma from the box and Regina from her plate. Sporadically, they also continued to drink, the blonde filling them up this time when they depleted, and The Mayor the time after that.

To the Saviour's absolute astonishment the former Queen even laughed out loud on one occasion, but then afterwards insisted that it had never happened. She said that the show was at most tolerable, but Emma knew she was enjoying it; she just didn't want to admit that she was wrong. The blonde spent most of the time sneakily watching Regina's actions out of the corner of her eye rather than watching the actual television. The woman's face was kind of adorable when it was screwed up in concentration and down right beautiful when her eyes danced with laughter every so often. As the she thought back on the evening so far, Emma fully fathomed that this night with Regina was unlike anything they had ever done before. They were joking with each other, picking on one another; but not in their usual way. Only one or two comments aside, their entire conversation this evening had come from a place of lightheartedness, of teasing, rather than their usual spiteful intentions.

It was as if Emma was watching their relationship change in front of her eyes. She had known that they were becoming closer, more amiable, but she hadn't yet realised to what extend that had actually happened. Obviously, Emma herself had some unresolved feelings towards the Queen. In ways she had never been able to fully comprehend she felt drawn to the other woman. But she never imagined that the woman actually liked spending time with her too.

At least I think she's enjoying herself, Emma pondered, analysing. Either that or she's a way better actress than I thought.

Towards the end of their third episode, when the blonde had devoured her entire pizza and Regina had eaten her fill, when the carafe of cider was empty and they were relaxing back on the couch, Emma decided it was time for shots. It was already fairly late, but it was a Saturday tomorrow and Henry was spending the day learning sword fighting with his grandfather so really the two women could drink as much as they so wished.

"Come on," Emma turned to face Regina, something suspicious coating her features. "It's time for shots."

"If you insist. I am partial to a drop of Tequila though. I had never experienced liquor of its sort until I came to this land."

"You don't have Tequila in the Enchanted Forest?!" Emma asked with mock disgrace.

"No, I believe the plant from which it is made doesn't grow on our soil. I have always been a fan of Whiskey and Brandy, but there is nothing quite the same which we were capable of producing."

"That sucks," the blonde reasoned, "I'm totally never going to live in the Enchanted forest now."

The two dark red shot glasses were filled with the yellow liquid and a lime placed across the top of each by Emma. The mayor leant forward, holding her hand out whilst using a dab of the liquor on her hand to wet it. Emma laughed at her as she held out her hand for salt. Regina watched as the other woman licked her hand generously and repeat the process.

Simultaneously they picked up the glasses and downed the ochre liquid in one gulp. Regina immediately thrust the lime into her mouth. The blonde watched the former Queen's face contort just slightly at the taste of the liquid while she let the taste overflow through her own mouth and feel the heat spread down her gullet before she teased the lime wedge between her teeth gently.

Regina looked up at Emma expectantly, "another?"

"Yuuuup," the Saviour replied, wondering what thoughts it was that were causing Regina to begin heavily drinking. She wanted to ask what the other woman was feeling but she knew better.

Emma prepared the next shots, and the ones after that. They did 5 shots in the space of two minutes or so and both women were beginning to feel the effects of the liquor, especially when it had been combined with a generous amount of cider beforehand.

They both leant back on the sofa for a few minutes. Regina's head was resting against the back cushion lightly. If Emma didn't know any better she would have said that the Mayor was a lightweight…Not that anyone could really be considered a lightweight after holding a few pints of cider and five Tequila shots.. She, on the other hand, was staring into space, getting her bearings after the last shot.

Slowly, the other woman's movement distracted Emma's attention. Regina unhurriedly raised her head, looking up at the blonde from under hooded eyelids.

"I think I'm drunk," she announced.

"Ha!" Emma laughed, "I think you are. I think in one more shot I will be too."

"Well then you should do another, naturally," Regina gestured with a wave of her hand as she replied, gazing at Emma intently through hooded eyelids.

The younger woman obeyed Regina's wish and poured herself another shot, downing it just as swiftly as all the ones before that. This one went to her head. Over the next few minutes she felt herself become slowly more intoxicated. They sat in silence, staring at the television. The world was pulsating slightly around Emma was and she turned her head to glance at the brunette it was like everything moved in slow-motion, like the way the road moved when sat in a speeding car.

It was only when Emma went to the bathroom and returned that she noticed how truly drunk she was. She couldn't walk in a straight line, and when Regina attempted to follow suit she stumbled out of the room even more loudly than Emma had done. On reflection, it was actually really irresponsible for them to get this hammered when they could be attacked by a Wicked Witch at any moment but that thought drifted out of Emma's head as quickly as it arrived.

The blonde was still staring at the screen in front of her when she felt Regina land haphazardly back onto the sofa. The woman had her legs stretched out, so they were only a few inches away from Emma's and she leant comfortably against the arm of the couch.

Everything within Emma's head moved at half speed, her thought processes slowing down considerably, her inhibitions lowering. She felt an overwhelming urge to touch Regina in some way. All she wanted was a shred of physical contact, and she knew it was just the drink talking but was it, really?

Drunk thoughts are sober thoughts, Emma reasoned. No, that wasn't right. Sober thoughts are drunk words? No. Whatever. All Emma knew was that any shred of feeling she had for Regina when she was sober was multiplied by a thousand when she had liquor inside her.

The room span as she moved her eye line from the scene with the Magic Eye illusion book where everyone is making fun of Ross, to Regina.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, concerned that she had talked the other woman into drinking a little more than she was actually capable of handling.

"Yes," Regina replied, forcing herself to look up at Emma. "I'm fine. Just…" she searched for the right word. Her eyes fell closed the open again and a strand of her usually perfectly pruned hair fell in front of her eyes. "Drunk. I'm definitely drunk. Very drunk."

"Can't hold your liquor Madame Mayor?" Emma provoked, the slyest smile that she could manage, which wasn't anything special, came to her thin lips. Her eyes were glinting altogether too brightly for her face to look anywhere close to mean.

"I am perfectly capable of holding my liquor, Miss Swan," She slurred, "but I think you'll find Tequila has rather adverse affects on my disposition."

Emma laughed then, and Regina didn't really see what was funny.

"Why are you laughing at me? You are drunk too, are you not?" she slurred. Emma continued to laugh at her and Regina's face broke into a child-like frown.

"Stop laughing at me. I demand it."

"Sorry it's just," she laughed again, "it clearly doesn't have that much of a negative effect on you. You still speak like the Queen of England even when you're fucked!" Emma continued laughing, her hands slapping down either side of her.

"And apparently you become even more profane that you were originally. Who knew," she replied sarcastically through her inebriation. "A lady must remain a lady even when she is hammered my dear."

Being as drunk as she was, the words that came out of Emma's mouth next didn't even make it to her brain for approval before she expelled them.

"You're pretty great you know Regina," she said drunkenly, looking the other woman up and down. Once her brain caught up with her mouth, she realised that actually she was too drunk to care what she was saying, so she let herself continue regardless. "Like…" she pondered, "You're a great mom…"

Regina looked at her incredulously, managing it even in her drunken state.

"No but…really…" Emma continued, "you're so great for Henry, you're way better for him than I ever could have been, and you're like, really good at magic," she said, emphasising the word really a little too much. "Oh and, you're really really good at cooking. Like…the best. Your lasagne…Oh my god. I could eat at least four trays of it right now."

Regina didn't know what to say and the blonde knew that. Even with her inhibitions lowered it was impossible for Regina to accept compliments, especially ones which involved the words 'you're pretty great'. It was something she had never been given the luxury of receiving before. She stared at Emma, really taking in her face for the first time in a while.

During Emma's laughing fit her hand and come to rest ever-so-slightly against the brunette's leg. Subconsciously, she had begun to draw tiny, light circles with her thumb against the other woman's stocking-covered calf. It was all Regina could concentrate on; all that she could feel. It was as if her Tequila filled brain wouldn't allow her to focus on anything else other than the minuscule movements of her son's other mother's hand.

"I don't know what to say," Regina voiced quietly, nervously, still focusing on Emma's fingers playing along her leg.

Emma laughed again but her face suddenly turned serious as she looked the brunette directly in the eyes, "You don't have to say anything. Really." The blonde closed her eyes, breathed out slowly and ran her fingers through her hair before she continued. "I just…didn't know whether anyone had told you that and I thought you should know because its the truth."

The show on the tv in front of them now long forgotten Emma pulled her knees up onto the couch and turned so she was facing Regina head on. Silence pervaded the air as they stared at each other, both contemplating the direction this conversation could go in. Their standoffs had always been aggressive, eyes fuelled with fire and rage but this time there was a softness to both their gazes that neither woman really knew how to process with the amount of Tequila hazing their mind. Emma's movements continued as she stared into the swirling pools of emotion that were Regina pupils.

Regina contemplated telling Emma things, things which she had been thinking for what she remembered to be a long time. She didn't know what had happened in the last year but she did know how she had felt before that, how she had felt when she woke up from her vision after Pan's curse, realising that she and the woman in front of her were more inextricably connected that she had ever thought possible. But this wasn't the time, Regina decided. She was too drunk to have this conversation and she wanted to have it at a time when she could be sure that both she and Emma would remember it. The blonde's words struck a chord within her again as she looked into green eyes. Emma was right, not one single person had ever told her she was worth anything, or had ever told her that she was great. But the woman in front of her had said it with such ease, such absolute truth that she couldn't help but believe it. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the fact that deep down somewhere under the drunken mess that was her insides right now Regina knew that even if it wasn't true Emma really believed it to be so, otherwise she wouldn't have said it.

"I can't…" Regina started. The Saviour looked at her expectantly but said nothing.

"I cannot believe what you say. I am in fact the complete opposite of great. I am an adequate mother at most, and a terrible human being." She looked down at Emma's hand on her leg and faltered. She stretched her hand out slowly, running her fingertips across the soft material of her stockings before they reached the warm and somehow softer skin of the blonde's hand. The other woman moved her fingers from tracing patterns on Regina's calf to running her thumb smoothly up and down the hand that was now wrapped in her's.

"But you are the first person that has ever told me I am worth more than what I have become. Sometimes I think you actually appreciate me for me." Regina had no idea where she was going with this and right now all she was doing was making a fool of herself. Showing your emotions is weakness, a voice in her head told her. She doesn't care. Stop trying. Be quiet before you embarrass yourself. She closed her eyes and didn't open them again until she heard a steady, melodic voice enter her ears and change everything.

"You may think you are worthless Regina, but you are the most incredible, powerful and wonderfully intriguing woman I have ever met. I appreciate all that you are and don't you ever forget it, promise?"

She looked up at Emma then and something about the look in the other woman's eye filled her heart with something she hadn't felt in years. There was so much honesty and purity in those emerald wonders that for a millisecond the former Queen let her emotions take over her entire soul.

Before she comprehended exactly what she was doing, Regina launched herself across the length of the sofa and unabashedly attached her lips to Emma's thin pale ones, all without detaching their hands which were now gripped together with a force she didn't know she was capable of. She felt a twitch underneath her lips, and within a few seconds the woman underneath her was responding to the kiss, melting into her in a way that made Regina think she actually wanted the same thing.

Something exploded inside the brunette as she continued to slide her lips and tongue drunkenly over Emma's, something that she hadn't ever thought she would feel again. She hung on for dear life; and Emma held back. They clutched onto each other in their drunkenness like nothing else mattered.

Emma took control, parting Regina's lips with her tongue. She could feel every inch of her body, her hands coming up, one resting around Regina's waist and the other coming to grip her neck with fervour. She couldn't even grasp the fact that she was actually kissing Regina Mills at that moment. However, she didn't have a chance to ponder the kiss any longer because as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

The blonde looked into Regina's eyes as she pulled away, not knowing what to say or do, what the woman wanted her to say or do. She didn't have a chance to say anything because the brunette swiftly removed herself from the couch and stepped towards the door.

"Goodnight Emma," she said as she turned away and stumbled out of sight.

Emma didn't reply. She didn't know if she should. In situations like this - not that she had ever been in this situation with Regina before - but in situations which prompted extreme feeling from Regina it was best to leave her to cope with things on her own.

The living room was tidied, the television turned off before the Saviour retired to bed. As she passed the stairs she contemplated going up; going to speak to Regina. Her foot rested on the first step but she decided it was best not to, especially considering how drunk she still was. So she made her way to her bedroom for a restless night of wondering what the morning would bring.

The following day Regina awoke to a splitting headache and a taste in her mouth that could only have been caused by vomiting the night before. Her innards were swirling around inside her, her stomach felt like it had been hit by an 18-wheeler. Her hand flopped over her face to shield the sun coming through her slightly open curtains. When she tried to remember how she had gotten herself into this state, very little came back to her. She remembered the encounter with her sister, coming home and speaking to Emma and Charming. She recalled that she and Emma had commenced drinking not long after her father had left, that they had ordered pizza and started watching a surprisingly entertaining television show. As she remembered the Tequila her stomach lurched, but she held it in. After that her mind was a blank. She rolled over, groaning as she did so, to check the time.

"Shit", the brunette cursed aloud. It was eleven o'clock. She hadn't slept in this late in decades, maybe even ever.

Downstairs, Emma was sitting at the island having a stare-off with a huge, steaming mug of coffee. She didn't know what Regina's reaction to her would be this morning or whether she would even talk to her at all after their kiss so she sat quietly and waited, turning around when she heard soft footfalls from the stairs. Emma was definitely feeling worse for wear this morning so she didn't even want to think about how Regina was feeling.

The blonde was looking as the entranceway as the mayor padded in, bare feet making little sound on the floor. She was still dressed in her pyjamas, and Emma had to stop herself from thinking that even hung-over and dressed in her jammies, the former Queen still looked like, well, a queen.

Waiting for Regina to make the first move, Emma sat silently and drank her coffee. After the brunette had poured herself a cup and situated herself opposite Emma, they spoke for the first time.

"I am never drinking with you again", Regina said accusingly, "I have never experienced a hangover like this in my entire life."

Emma was stunned; Regina wasn't mad at her, it wasn't awkward, it didn't even seem like…Fuck. Emma thought, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. She doesn't remember.

"Really…" the blonde replied nervously, "this was like, every weekend of my life for god knows how many years…"

"Really Emma, your penchant for alcohol does astonish me. Don't misunderstand me, I do like a drink, but usually I am hangover free, an effect of my magic, no doubt."

Puzzled, the Saviour looked at her son's mother across the island, "Then how come you have one today?" She still couldn't quite look Regina in the eye, and was focused on a spot just above the mayor's shoulder. If the mayor knew what had happened last night they wouldn't be sitting here having such a casual conversation right now.

"I don't know. I'm as puzzled as you are, dear. Maybe it is the consequence of my overt use of magic yesterday."

"Yeah…" Emma pondered, "I guess that makes sense… So David text me telling me he picked up Henry alright this morning, they're down at the docks, apparently Hook is involved in the lessons too."

Regina's face darkened at that comment but she said nothing and focused on the mug of coffee in front of her instead.

"I have to head down to the station for a few hours, then I'll pick him up from David and Mary Margret's on the way home." Emma had just, without realising, called Regina's house 'home'.

"Wonderful," Regina replied, not noticing the blonde's use of words, "I will be stopping by the vault at some point. I'm going to attempt to find out more about the woman's magic. I shall cook us dinner, Lasagne perhaps?"

"Sounds great." Emma smiled, but inside she was a wreck. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't very well come out and tell Regina they had kissed last night, or that they had has some kind of deep and meaningful conversation, but she also felt terribly guilty allowing the woman to continue without knowing. The lesser of two evils, she decided, was to wait for the opportune time to tell her. Informing her of it now would just make things worse. It was just a drunken mistake, wasn't it? But the blonde's mind drifted back to the kiss, the way it felt to have the brunette's lips against hers, the way the other woman had clutched at her shirt like she never planned to let go. The rest of the night was mostly a blur, but the kiss she remembered with such fervent clarity it could have happened just seconds ago.

Both women finished their coffee and advanced from the kitchen to get ready for their already delayed day. Emma yelled a goodbye to Regina as she left the house and walked toward her yellow bug that was parked just outside the house on Mifflin Street.