Chapter Five: Between Us
There is something so bittersweet about the fact that Emma Swan is sitting in her study, in her all too familiar leather jacket, and a thoughtful expression etched upon her eyebrows. Although a year has passed since the last time this product of true love has stepped foot in their small, quaint town, there is no sign of change or time painted into her appearance. In fact, if the Mayor did not know any better, she would swear that the green in Emma's eyes sparkle just as brightly now as they did the night that they lost themselves within one another. It is as if time had been nothing but kind to Emma Swan; there is no sign of scars or trauma, no signs that the blonde has struggled so much with this separation as the dark haired woman truly has.
Emma is, just as she ever has been, truly perfect. Regina only regrets that it took her so terribly long to be able to admit that to herself. She had waited far too long, far too late, to truly understand just how much Emma Swan had an effect on her life. Perhaps it was not until the night they shared, or the day that she watched her drive across the town line, that she realized how deeply in love she had been with her. Even more deeply so than she had ever truly loved Daniel.
"I am sorry to show up so unexpectedly like this. David told me that you were home and I wanted to get some of this business done as quickly as possible," Emma states, nervously fidgeting with her hands in her lap, a warm blush curling within her cheeks when her eyes briefly meet Regina's, "he did call and tell you that I was coming, right? Because if you have company, or other plans I can just-" Emma points toward the door, however, a chuckle from the raven haired beauty stops the rambling.
"Yes. David did... call," Regina forces the lie as she hands the blonde a glass of apple cider. Graciously, Emma extends her hand to retrieve the drink, and for a brief moment, their skin meets and Regina prays that she does not notice how her breath hitches at the connection. Smiling softly, she tucks the edge of her skirt under her as she sits across the room from her, "besides, even if I did have company, I think you are by far a much better way to spend my day." The statement causes a warm smile to appear upon Emma's face as she takes a slow swig of the cider, with a playful bat of her long eyelashes that causes Regina's heart to nearly skip a beat.
It is quite ironic, Regina ponders as her lips stay pursed delicately upon the wine glass, that Snow White's daughter is in her house, drinking apple cider. Two decades ago, she had been planning the death of this infant in order to achieve the darkness that she so desperately wanted to achieve. Two decades ago, this beautiful blonde that sits across from her had been the bane of her existence; she had been the happy ending for the woman that cost Regina her own chance at a happy ending.
Or, at least, so she thought.
Little did she know, however, it would be the Savior who would be her own happy ending.
"So, um, this is...uh... this is a lovely place you have here. It's so... spacious," Emma stumbles over the word and Regina cannot help but chuckle inwardly at the blonde's attempts to impress her. After all, Emma Swan is the type who likes to sit in a bar, wipe grease stains on her jeans, and struggles to open her own beer bottles. Spacious? That just sounds like her word of the day, Regina bemuses.
"Thank you, Miss Swan. Being the Mayor does have it's... privileges," The word is a little thick within Regina's mouth as she takes a swig of the cider in her glass, "like gorgeous random strangers showing up on your doorstep." She winks, lifting her glass to the blonde and Emma only smiles, the same warm, pink color appearing within her cheeks. Fumbling softly with her glass, Emma raises forward and sits her glass upon the coaster, her eyes fixated upon the raven haired woman across from her.
Regina can tell that Emma is contemplating something so seriously; that something is just inches away from escaping from those pursed lips, but she also knows that those words will never come. Just like Emma will never fall into her arms, tell her how much she loves her, how she misses her and how this year apart has been the worst thing for her. Regina made damn sure when Emma left that she would have no remembrance of this place, so she isn't so sure why she is still expecting her to realize that right in front of her is everything that she has been missing.
"I think I would get lonely in this house," Emma ponders, glancing around at the room before her eyes land upon the flickering of the fireplace, "do you have kids? Seems like the perfect castle for a kid." Although unintentionally, the second the question falls from her lips, the blonde cracks Regina's fragile heart more than it already was.
After all, she had not been entirely wrong- this mansion had been perfect for Henry. He learned how to speak here, how to take his first steps, how to play pretend that he was the prince and ruled over a kingdom of various people, including his grandparents. This house had been the perfect home for their son and the sound of his laughter still haunts her in the emptiness of his room.
"Uh, I...I don't, actually." Regina's voice cracks softly as her thumb traces the rim of her glass, "but maybe you're right. Maybe kids would make this place a little less lonely." Her voice is coarse and she wonders if Emma will notice. And for a moment, if she did not know any better, she would swear that she saw a flash of heartbreak and compassion flicker within her emerald eyes. Little did the complete stranger know, she had given her the perfect family that she so desperately wished upon her.
"You can have mine if you want. I'm sure you would quickly change your mind." Emma snorts with a roll of her eyes, uneasily rubbing her hands her knees. When Regina's eyebrow arches, Emma cannot help but smile weakly, an uncomfortable giggle in the back of her throat. The irony is not lost on Regina in the fact that once again Emma Swan is offering her child.
The same child that brought Emma to Storybrooke in the first place.
After all, it had been Henry who brought Emma to her.
"So, not to be rude, but what what brings you to Storybrooke, Miss Swan?" Regina asks with a clearing of her throat. Nodding her head in understanding, Emma's fingers gently glide through her golden blonde hair before her pursed lips answer the dazzling dark haired woman before her.
"Robin Hood." snorts Emma and in that moment, Regina's heart leaps into her throat and her eyes widen at the name. She barely remembered the character from the Enchanted Forest- something about always saving the day, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. She had never truly cared enough to pay attention to the small details- after all, a man had never truly been on Regina's agenda for a happy ending. She just did not know that it involved one Miss Emma Swan until it was entirely too late.
"Excuse me?" intrigues Regina with an arch of her eyebrow and a blush immediately fills within the blonde's cheeks. This Emma is slightly more awkward and timid than the one that Regina remembers throwing her against the wall that night; this Emma seems only slightly more breakable than the one that had her on her back, screaming her name to the top of her lungs.
"Oh, shit. Sorry. That joke was supposed to say in the office. My boss would have my ass if he knew that I told you that. Uh, I'm looking for a fugitive. I can't really give you any details because trust me, the less that you know, the better off that you are. If you know too much, it really might put you in danger and I would hate for something to happen to such a beautiful woman like yourself," Emma flirts with a wink and Regina swears that her heart may have exploded in that moment, "Really, I just came here to tell you that I need full clearance from you and your police force to do whatever I need to do to catch this felon."
"Whatever you need to do? Does that include blowing my town off the map?" Regina asks with a chuckle and Emma shrugs with a smirk.
"If you ask me, your town is already off the map, so that wouldn't be entirely hard to do, now would it, Madame Mayor?" Emma pushes and Regina cannot help but smirk at the challenge. Ah, there she is, she bemuses inwardly, that ever so arrogant and testy blonde that she fell in love with all those months ago.
"You're witty." notes Regina as she takes a swig of the liquid in her glass.
"I was voted Most Likely To Be a Smart Ass." retorts Emma, mimicking the same facial expression that is displayed upon the Mayor's beautiful face.
"You seem to be living up to that superlative." Regina responds, lifting her glass as if to cheer the statement. Suddenly, Regina cannot help but notice how the time manages to fall away. For a moment, the curse never happened, for a moment Emma Swan never crossed the town line for New York and managed to forget all about her. For a moment, Regina's happy ending still felt so very, very within reach.
"I do aim to please my audience," smirks Emma.
"I'm sure you do more than please, Emma." At this, she wiggles her eyebrows and the blonde across from her makes a sound so deep within the back of her throat that it makes Regina's whole body erupt in the utmost series of chills.
More than please? Ah, if Regina recalls correctly, Emma certain does just that.
"Are you insinuating something, Regina?"
"Just that you're... very entertaining." At this, Regina licks her lips, her tongue lingering just for a moment over her scar, wondering if Emma remembers the way it peppered the arch of her back or the way that it drifted across her collarbone that night. She can watch the way that Emma's body seems to move as if electrified at the statement, the way that she wipes her sweaty palms onto her jeans and she swallows harder than any time before. Struggling for a moment, Emma lifts her glass and swallows the rest of the liquid that remains inside quickly, taking a moment to collect herself before a deep breath dances from her lips.
"Because if I didn't know any better, it sounded like you were flirting with me," Emma states, a smile playing upon her lips. At this, Regina cannot help but roll her eyes, an all too familiar giggle echoing within the back of her throat.
She cannot recall the last time that she felt this.. weightless, she bemuses. She cannot recall the last time that everything felt as if it was just going right for once and she did not have a care in the world. She knew that it all had to do with the blonde savior that sits across from her, a challenging look painted upon her gorgeous face that looks entirely too much like her mother's at times.
"Don't be presumptuous, Miss Swan. Nobody should flirt with someone they just met. It's the same as marrying someone you just met. And while it might have worked out for Snow White, I'm certainly not a princess in need of saving," Regina replies, a certain level of thickness in her voice. At the statement, Emma only shakes her head, her fingers sliding through her hair.
"I never liked fairytales anyway. I was always too busy rooting for the villains to win because I always thought they were misunderstood," She smiles with a shrug of her shoulders and Regina swears the girl is going to slay her own heart- perhaps she should have left it beating outside of her own chest.
"Emma Swan has a dark side, how interesting." Regina smirks and Emma smiles, slowly standing as her green eyes never once waver from Regina's dark brown. Despite the curse, despite the fact that she should not remember a damn thing about her, the blonde still stares at the woman as if she knew every single secret, scar and emotion that has been stored inside of her.
"What can I say? Sometimes even the good guys like the bad guys," Emma states with a laugh before glancing around the study once more, "Actually, I really should be going. Someone towed my car so I'm going to have to walk to David's apartment and I'm not really sure where that is. So, if I want to get there before tomorrow, I really should be heading out. But it's...uh... it's been a pleasure to meet you, Madame Mayor." Emma smiles with an awkward wave, heading to the door, but a raspy voice calls her back, just like all those times before.
"Emma, wait!" Regina's voice is frantic as she stands, her eyes suddenly glossy with a new onset of tears that she prays the Savior does not notice, "I mean... I...uh... I may have... I may have had something to do with that. You said that you're staying at the Nolan's place, right? It's about three blocks over. The least I could do is give you a ride." At this, the blonde nods, a smile upon her lips as she watches the raven haired woman hustle around her office, grabbing a coat and a pair of car keys that Emma would bet belongs to the gorgeous black Mercedes that sits out front.
"Hey, uh, Regina?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." It's a simple statement as Emma's hand extends forward and gently caresses Regina's forearm. It's a small gesture, one that is minuscule and is often disregarded in other cultures, but to the gorgeous Mayor , it is one that completely takes her by surprise. In that moment, Regina's walls seem to melt as a sudden wave of light appears within her dark eyes.
As the two of them walk in sync to the car, Emma gently pushes Regina just slightly in a playful manner, causing the older woman to laugh at the gesture.
"So, do you offer everyone a ride that comes to your house?" Emma intrigues as she opens the passenger door and Regina cannot help but study her face with a smile.
"Oh, Miss Swan, only the cute ones," Regina replies as she shuts the car door behind her gorgeous passenger.
The car ride to the Nolan's apartment had been an interesting one. The first few moments were filled with silence as they changed from one radio station to another, but suddenly, the air that had been so thick between the two of them that not even a knife could have cut it, dissipated. In the short car ride to her nemesis's apartment, Regina had found out that Emma is a bounty hunter, she had not seen anyone serious while she had been in New York City, her favorite kind of movies are action films, but perhaps most importantly, she found out that Emma Swan is perhaps the most perfect woman on the face of the planet.
Granted, she may have learned that last tidbit the night that she had Emma Swan in her bed.
She is not sure what motivated her to walk Emma to the door of Snow White's apartment, especially since this is the last place that Regina Mills would want to be caught dead at. Yet, here she is, as Emma studies the numbers on the door, her hand nervously hovering over the door. In this moment, Regina cannot help but wonder if this is what Emma looked like all those times that she went to foster homes, unsure of what awaited her on the other side of the door.
"You're sure they are okay people? Like, they aren't going to try to slice my throat in the middle of the night, are they?" Emma intrigues, looking back at her new friend skeptically and something inside of Regina's heart managed to crack at the question.
"As far as killing you directly? No, I don't think they are capable of that. The Nolan's are, however, capable of a different kind of pain," Regina snorts and when Emma looks at her quizzically, she realizes that she must elaborate, "Um, I just mean that they are extremely good. Too good, actually. Being around them for an extended period of time will make you feel like you are getting a cavity while nursing a hangover at the very same time. They aren't going to hurt you, Emma. You can trust me." Regina smiles warmly and Emma smiles gently, nodding weakly before she knocks on the door. There is a moment of silence that follows the action as the women await the opening of the door and Regina wonders if she should say something.
She wonders if she should mention how Emma's leather jacket hugs her in all the right places, or how her mouth has been a constant state of dry since she walked through the door, or if she should mention how, without even truly being herself, Emma Swan has yet again walked in and managed to put her life entirely back together again. She wonders if she should say something, anything, that might further her interaction with the blonde.
Her lips purse as the words tremble upon her tongue; perhaps she should remind Emma of who she truly is. However, before she ever truly gets the chance, David opens the door, with an infant in his arms.
Instantly, David's eyes meet Regina's as she glances from the dashing face of her son's grandfather to the baby that is in his arms, chewing happily on a toy that she cannot quite recognize. There is no way in hell Snow has already had the baby... is there? Wrinkling her brow in confusion, Regina opens her mouth to say something when Emma's voice fills the room.
"Nice to see you again, David. I'm glad to see that you survived the night," Emma winks playfully, gesturing to the baby. David merely laughs warmly, glancing over his shoulder at Henry who sits in the kitchen, eating cookies as Snow attempts to clean up a mess that is not visible to the women at the door.
"Yeah, nice to see that you survived the night with the Evil Queen." David replies, winking toward the Mayor who only scowls at him in response, her eyes never once leaving the dark haired infant in his arms. Without exactly knowing why, Emma can fill the tension in the room between the two individuals and she only smiles weakly, her arm wrapping around the waist of Regina, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
"Oh, she isn't that bad. She's actually... funny and sweet. I think you misjudged this one." Emma smiles, her eyes drifting toward the woman that stands beside her. The simple action sends jolts of electricity racing down Regina's spine and the lights above them flicker dramatically at the magical meeting. Wrinkling her brow in confusion, Emma glances up at the ceiling before back at David, "Does this happen often?"
"Actually, it hasn't happened in a year," David bemuses, his face solemn.
"I don't think you have been in Storybrooke long enough to pass judgement on this one, Emma. Regina, won't you come in?" It is Mary Margaret who speaks now, stepping from behind her husband as she wipes her hands on the towel that is draped over her shoulder. Regina huffs, her body tensing at the brief interaction with her arch nemesis and she only shakes her head, stepping away from Emma's grasp upon her waist.
"No, I really should be going. It is late and I still have some business to attend to," She replies quickly, studying the baby who suddenly smiles at her, stretching her arms out for Regina.
"Uh oh, someone seems smitten with the Mayor. She's forgotten all about her Mommy." Emma scoffs in mock jealousy. However, the second the word fell from her lips, Regina blocked all else out.
Suddenly, it is simply just herself and the baby, everything else is just background noise. Dark eyes meet dark eyes, a bright, gummy smile meets a solemn face, and everything inside of the Mayor suddenly goes numb.
Mommy?
So, there was someone else in New York.
Not that Regina minded it, after all, Henry had truly belonged to the son of the Dark One and it never stopped her from loving him any less. However, Henry happened before she even truly knew or loved Emma; this little tyke happened after their tirade in the bedroom.
"I really think you should stay, Regina." Snow pushes, watching as Reagan excitedly continues to reach for the woman in the door. Shaking her head, Regina takes a step back, her lips parted as she quickly tries to catch the breath that she did not know was taken from her. This cannot be happening, not like this, not after she finally got Emma back.
"I really need to..."
"Mom!" A single voice calls out and Regina knows it is meant just for her. Behind David and Mary Margret steps a boy who she swears has grown a whole foot since the last time she saw him. Gangly, thinner and slightly more freckled stands Henry Mills- excuse her, Henry Swan. He flashes a bright smile toward his mother as she stares at him with tear filled eyes before Emma breaks the silence.
"Hey, kiddo. Did you have fun with the Nolan's?" Emma asks and Henry nods, looking down at his feet before his eyes find Regina's once more.
"Yeah, but Reagan has been fussy all night. It's like she's been wanting something, we just can't figure out what. Well, until now. Now it's quite clear that she wants Mo... I mean, the Mayor," Henry blushes at his own stumbling of the words, watching as his sister squeals, thrashing against David wildly.
"You might as well take her. You've made my baby fall in love with you, the least you could do is hold her or else we will be hearing about it all night. And I have to get to work catching a bad guy bright and early in the morning, and well, I'm not sure what these two are do but I'm sure it's important too," Emma states, walking into the apartment as she abandons her jacket onto the sofa. However, it falls upon deaf ears as Regina stares at Reagan, her eyes drifting from David to Henry, back to the baby.
"I really can't, David. She's not..."
"Trust me, you're going to want to hold her," David states. Before Regina ever has the chance to dispute the man's word, a tiny infant is suddenly tossed in her arms. Suddenly, as if someone magically found a button, the fussiness and the dramatic screaming managed to stop. Suddenly, Reagan's tiny hands are gently placed upon Regina's cheeks as her eyes stare into those all wise brown swirls.
Regina is captivated.
Reagan is...bemused.
Grinning, one hand pats Regina's cheek affectionately as the other tangles within her hair.
"Hey there, pretty girl," Regina whispers, tears evident in her eyes. Leaning in, the Mayor places a soft kiss upon her cheek. Suddenly, at the brief contact of her lips against skin that created the scent of baby lotion dancing in her nostrils, something miraculous happens.
Without warning, a crack of thunder echoes throughout the sky, and then instantly, the lights go out in a dramatic shattering of the light bulbs. At the destruction, Reagan only laughs, her eyes never once leaving the face of the beautiful woman that holds her.
"Huh, that's weird. Looks like you blew a fuse," Emma bemuses from somewhere in the kitchen. However, Regina is too busy staring at the baby girl in her arms to really pay attention to her. It is a coincidence; it had to be a coincidence, right?
Suddenly, in the silence that is somehow mixed with Reagan's amused cues, a hushed whisper vibrates from someone's lips. It tickles within Regina's ears before it really absorbs into her brain what has been said.
Suddenly, Regina swears that her heart stops beating entirely; to the point that even she is not sure that it will truly ever begin again.
"She's yours."
Fuck.