A/N: Also I am very clearly a terrible person and should be punished for making you wait this long, but as it turns out being a master student involves a hell-a-thon of writing and studying, who knew?. Also the inspiration for how the gym looks is a mix of the snowball on OC and the Christmas Ball on Pretty Little Liars.

"Wow, Emma... You look amazing. » Mary Margaret said as she walked into Emma's room. Emma was wearing a dark navy blue halter-neck dress, and her hair was curled in her signature curls.

"I know." Emma said as she looked in the mirror. She had been planning this look for weeks. She wanted to be breathtaking, and beautiful. She had wanted this night to be special. And now, without Fiona, she needed it even more.

"You are sure you want to go? I mean…" Mary Margaret asked, obviously concerned about her little sister.

"Yes." Emma said, almost forcefully. "I really want this. Also my life isn't over just because my girlfriend broke up with me. I was looking forward to this dance, and now I am going. Besides I'll have the hottest date there."

"If you are sure…" Mary Margaret said, "You know I am just looking out for you, right?"

"I know. And I love you for it." Emma said, and moved to hug her sister, that's when she noticed that her sister wasn't dressed yet. "Wait, why aren't you dressed yet?"

"I'm not sure I'm going…" Mary Margaret said, "Me and James had a fight. Again."

"Come on. You have to go. You are a shoe in for Snow Queen." Emma said, annoyed that her sister's boyfriend seem to have no regards for her sister's feelings. Again. "This is your last Snow Ball. You know you want to go. Screw James. Or maybe he'll show up, and surprise you. Just lets get you dressed."

"Fine." Mary Margaret conceded.

"Yay!" Emma said in a tone way more giddy than she has ever used before, surprising both herself and her sister. "Yeah, I'm never saying that again."

Mary Margaret laughed, and the two girls walked into the other bedroom. It took longer than Emma would have liked, but they got her ready. Mary Margret was wearing a strapless white dress with a black belt that made her look amazing. Just as Mary Margaret was putting the final touches on her make-up, they heard the doorbell ring.

Emma walked down the stairs to see, to her surprise, James standing there with flowers and an apoplectic look on his face. He was dressed to the nines, and for the first time Emma could remember, he didn't look like a total sleaze ball.

"So you showed up then?" Emma said in an accusing voice.

"Of course I did, why would I?" And there it was. That condescending sleaze ball Emma had come to hate.

"She didn't think you would. Apparently you had a fight, again."

"That's why I am here. To apologize. I overreacted." James said, and Emma almost believed him. But it wasn't up to her to forgive him; she had no input on this. That much had been made clear over the last couple of months.

And seeing as she had been dumped the day before, maybe she wasn't the one to pass judgment on other people's relationship. She had been blind, and foolish, and should have seen that Fiona was still stuck up on Katie, but she refused to. She didn't want to believe.

"I'll go tell her you are here..." Emma said, turning around and heading back upstairs, instead of saying something she would most likely regret. Emma hated James. Emma had hated James long before he cheated on her best friend. But it wasn't about her. It was about her sister. And her sister was old enough to make her own choices.

"So, James showed up.:" Emma said when she reached her sister's bedroom. Her tone of voice was about as enthusiastic as she felt. And Emma felt a pang in her heart when a huge smile appeared on her sister's heart.

"Don't give me that look." Mary Margaret said.

"What look?" Emma said, actually unaware she was giving her sister any look what so ever. But then again, she always seemed to have this look of slight distain when talking about James. She couldn't even help herself anymore.

"That look." Mary Margaret said, "The look you always get when talking about James. I know that you can't stand him, but I love him. So please just for me?"

"You love him?" That was the first Emma had heard about that. She knew it was serious, more than it had been at least, but for her sister to say that she loved someone, it took a lot. Despite being outgoing and social, and had dated her share of boys, she had said she loved only one other boy, the first one. Her sister didn't love easily; it was strangely enough something they had in common.

"Yeah, I do. Let's just say it took me by surprise to. But he did something to my heart I didn't expect. He isn't that bad of a guy, he can be sweet and caring. He just doesn't like to show it to the world." Mary Margaret said.

"All I want is for you to be happy." Emma said, "And you seem happy now, so I'm going to let it be."

"Really?" Mary Margaret seemed skeptical, and Emma couldn't blame her. It wasn't the first time Emma has promised to stay out of her sister's relationship only to butt in the next day. But Emma was really trying to be better. All she wanted was for her sister to happy, just as she wanted herself to be happy. It wasn't really her fault that she believed that her sister would be the happiest with Graham. The fact that it would make one of her best friends truly happy was only an added bonus after all.

"Well, at least for a week. Maybe even for the rest of the year, if I am feeling kind." Emma joked. After all, she shouldn't make promises she probably wouldn't be able to keep.

"That's something." Mary Margaret smiled, and moved to hug her sister just as they heard the doorbell ring.

"This time it better be my knight in shining armor." Emma said and left the room, leaving her sister's hug hanging in the air. Emma could swear she heard her sister mutter, "That girl will be the death of me, "as she left. It only made her smile even more.

Emma just looked at James, and said a brief, "She'll be right down," before opening the door and seeing Graham, and he really looked like the knight in shining armor he could be. He was dressed to the nines and he looked more handsome than Emma had ever seen him. Emma hugged him.

"You look so good." Emma said when they broke apart, "And I mean that sincerely."

"Thank you." Graham said, and smiled. "You look pretty good yourself, if I am allowed to say that."

"Of course I do. Did you expect anything else?" Emma said.

"Of course not." Graham said, "So you ready to go?"

"Dad wants pictures. Dad always wants pictures." Emma said, and sighed. She'd rather this event not be one for the photo albums. She may look good, and she wants to go to this dance, and she doesn't mind going with Graham, but despite what she told Mary Margaret she was still upset that Fiona had broken up with her, and that she isn't going with someone who she is attracted to.

Emma tried her best to not show Graham how she feels, but he has become adept at reading her way faster than anyone else ever had, "Look, Emma. I get that you wish you were going to this thing with someone else, and that is fine. Maybe I do too." He said as he looked wistfully towards the stairs were Mary Margaret was standing. "But you worked your ass off to make sure this dance would be amazing, and you deserve a night that is yours."

"You're right." She said, and smiled. "This is our night. We look amazing, and we are going to take the dance by storm. This is the night."

"This is the night."

"Okay, this looks even better than I imagined" Emma said as she and Graham walked into the gym, which had been turned into the most beautiful winter wonderland that Emma had ever seen. The lighting and the decorations looked so beautiful. The windows were frosted, and there was fake snow and blue lightning. Emma had seen the concept art, and she had helped make the decorations. However, this was far more amazing than she could ever have imagined.

"Regina did a really good job." Graham said, and smiled.

"She certainly did. Not that I ever doubted her." Emma said wistfully.

"No. I have a feeling you never would." Graham said, jokingly.

"Oh, shut up!" Emma said, and punched his arm. "Like you don't believe my sister walks on clouds or something."

"Point taken. And speaking of the devil..." Graham said, and pointed towards the other side of the room where Regina was standing in a glorious satin red dress that made her look absolutely breathtaking. Emma had never seen anything as beautiful as Regina was in that moment.

"Woah." Emma breathed out.

"You don't have to tell me." Graham said, "She looks amazing."

The duo made their way over to Regina, "This place looks amazing, Regina." Emma said as they reached the brunette.

"Thanks, Emma." Regina smiled, "but I really couldn't have done it without you." She paused, "All of you. I mean..."

"It was fun. And I mean that. I learned so much, most notably that glitter is impossible to get out of your bra." Emma joked, referring to a session last week when they were making the snowflakes that went in the ceiling and Ruby had decided to throw pretty much an entire container of glass down the front of Emma's sweater.

"You and Ruby certainly made it a much more interesting process than any planning has ever been before, that's for sure." Regina said

"Good, it's our goal in this place, making things just a little more interesting." Emma teased, "But really though. You did an amazing job. You should be proud of yourself."

"Emma is right, Regina. You really outdid yourself. I thought the Valentine's Day dance last year was spectacular. But this, this is something else entirely." Graham praised.

"Thank you. I really wanted this to be special. It's our last year and I don't know. I want to make a mark, or something." Regina said, and Emma caught that look in Regina's eyes again. The look that she could never quite place or understand, the part of Regina that was still so much a mystery that Emma wanted to badly to solve.

"Oh come on. This place will remember you for decades, Regina." Emma said, slightly teasing but mostly meaningful. "At least as much as a high school can remember anyone or anything."

"You should dance. Enjoy this night." Regina said, and Emma could tell she meant it. "You deserve it. You both do."

"What about you?" Graham asked, "Don't you want to dance?" He gestured to the dance floor, and smiled.

"Maybe later. I need to make sure the ballots for the winter royalty are out, and that someone is watching it."

"Fine. But you owe me a dance, Regina. And don't think I will forget it." Graham said.

"Of course." Regina said, and smiled. "Now you two kids have fun." She said.

"I am two months older than you!" Graham shouted towards Regina's back as she walked away.

"Come on, big boy. I do want to dance." Emma said, laughed, and dragged Graham out on the dance floor. Regina was right, this was their night and she was going to enjoy it no matter what.

The first part of the dance went by without much trouble, Emma and Graham danced a couple of slow songs, and was joined in by Peter, Ruby and Regina for some of the more upbeat ones. Emma was having a blast, the band that had won the Battle of the Bands, "Broken Promises and Hard Hearts" were really good. They were singing a mixture of covers and their own original songs. The songs were also a decent mix of slow love songs, and fast songs you could dance to with your friends.

The band was just taking a short break, as the winners of the Snow Queen and King was coming up. A mix of songs Emma knew was picked and made by Regina was playing while the band was of stage, Emma was impressed by the quality of the sound system Regina had installed in the gym. She had clearly made sure that the pre-recorded music would not bring down the mood during the band's breaks.

Emma was taking a break from all the dancing, and was sitting at a table talking to Ruby, Graham, Katheryn and David. Regina was off counting the votes with Peter, who had volunteered to help her seeing as Graham was nominated. She was laughing at something Katheryn said as she heard her sister's voice pretty much booming across the gym.

"How could you do this to me?!" she was screaming, and Emma looked over to see her sister standing opposite a very much disheveled James and a brunette girl Emma had seen around school.

Everything, including the music stopped, and everyone's attention was suddenly on the three people who were in the middle of a huge screaming match.

"Wake up princess. Your little Prince Charming has been cheating on you for months. "The other girl, Jack; Emma suddenly remembered, said.

"Is this true?" Mary Margaret asked, and Emma's heart broke for her sister. A part of her knew this would happen, but to have it happen like this, so very public and so sudden was really just throwing salt in the wound. Emma had hoped she would be wrong about James. She had hoped it so very much.

"What's going on?" Emma heard behind her, in all the commotion she hadn't realized Regina and Peter had come back.

"It turns out Jackass McAsshole has been cheating on my sister." Emma said, and the anger was clear in her voice. She really wanted to beat the shit out of that boy.

"Yes." Was the only word James said in defense of himself, and to some extent Emma was glad. The last thing her sister needed was for him to defend himself.

"Well then." Mary Margaret said, and slapped him. For the looks of it very hard. "This, whatever this was to you, is over!" She said before leaving the gym.

Emma was just about to go after her, when Regina's hand on her arm stopped her. "Graham has it covered." She said, and gestured to her best friend.

Graham had walked over to where Jack and James were now standing, "I think you should leave."

"I have just as much right to be here as anyone. Besides I was the one who was assaulted."

"I said, I think you should leave." Graham repeated again, and he was pretty much standing above James now. He looked terrifying and James back away.

"Whatever. This is lame anyway." James said, and he and Jack exited the gym. As soon as James and Jack were gone, Graham went after Mary Margaret.

"Well, that was interesting." Ruby said, "I can't believe he would do that to her though. I mean, he cheated on me but I really thought he learned from his lessons."

"Guys like him don't learn." Emma said, her tone still seething with anger. "I warned her this would happen. I tried to be cool and everything, but he is an asshole."

"Better you vent now, Em, because the last thing MM needs is for you to say 'I told you so'" Ruby added, "just let her feel whatever she needs to feel."

"I know." Emma said, "I am just mad. I am losing faith in love right now. If I ever had it in the first place."

"Oh come on, Em." Ruby said, "Just because James was the jackass we all knew he was and Fiona went back to Katie – like we knew she would, doesn't mean all love is doomed. Look at me and Peter, we are happier than ever."

Ruby snuggled up to Peter and smiled, and Emma had to admit that they looked happy. They had what she wanted, what she thought she had with Fiona, and if she was being completely honest with herself, what she still wanted to have with Regina. Emma desperately wanted to be happy and in love.

Emma looked over at Regina, and her heart melted again. She knew she had to let Regina go, she wanted to so badly. But how do you stop feeling something? It's impossible. It's there; it's always there in the back of her mind. This idea of her and Regina, this thing that was only a dream, this thing that became something else when they became friends. A part of her had believed that being friends with Regina would somehow fracture this image that she had of Regina, this idea that she liked so much, but instead it did the opposite. While the idea of Regina was something she admired, and liked. Regina herself was so much more. Being a part of Regina's life, being her friend was more than her dreams. It was beyond anything she could ever imagine. So maybe she would always be in love with Regina, and maybe that was completely okay.

The sound of the gym doors opening again made Emma turn back around, the music was on, but not loud enough for people to dance. Regina was supposed to be on stage presenting the King and Queen, but due to the commotion Regina had decided to wait a little bit for things to cool down. The night was still fairly young.

Mary Margaret and Graham walked in the gym again, Mary Margaret's head was raised high and she had a smile on her face. Emma was glad to see that Graham had managed to cheer up her sister. Graham really had a talent for finding the bright spot in every dark situation, and Emma was glad her sister had someone like Graham in her life.

"So, are we ever going to find out who our King and Queen is?" Ruby asked Regina.

"I guess it's about time." Regina said, and found her way towards the stage along with Peter, who had agreed to present with Regina as well. Storybrooke High had a long tradition of having Winter Kings and Queens, in many ways that was a more prestigious honor than both prom and homecoming royalty. Storybrooke High was one of those few High Schools in this country which cared very little about football. The stars of the school were the track teams, the basketball teams and to smaller extent the women's soccer club. Homecoming was never much of big deal at Storybrooke High, it never had been. Prom royalty was still a big deal, but the idea of being prom king or prom queen was very cliché and being winter king and queen was something more unique. That said, winning winter queen and king was usually a good indication of who was going to end up being prom royalty.

"It's time to crown our winter king and queen." Regina started, and took out the envelope with the results. The envelope was mostly for traditions sake since Regina and Peter had counted the votes and knew what the results was.

"Our Winter Queen is Mary Margaret Blanchard," Regina said with a smile, as the spotlight found Mary Margaret, and it suddenly became clear why Regina had waiting for Mary Margret to return before announcing the king and queen. Emma wasn't exactly surprised that her sister won. People loved her sister, and she deserved this. She deserved something good to come out of this whole mess.

Mary Margaret entered the stage, as Peter put the tiara on her head. Emma could tell that her sister was touched, and she was also happy. Or as happy she could be given the circumstances.

"And our winter king is Graham Humbert!" Regina announced, and the spot light found Graham on the floor. His face being one of extreme shock. Graham was popular in his own right, but he wasn't near as popular as many other boys. Emma smiled as Graham found his way up to the stage and received his crown and a hug from Regina. As she looked at her sister and Graham up on that stage she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Regina had something to do with this.

"So it's time for our royal couple to have their coronation dance. So if you would take the dance floor." Regina said, as the band started playing the first chords of Lauren Aquilina's song Fools. Emma looked over at the dance floor as Graham took Mary Margaret into his arms, and Emma realized that everything will be okay. Maybe not at this very moment, her sister would need some time to heal. But she had people who loved her, and when she was ready, she was going to have Graham.

Emma was watching her sister and Graham, and didn't notice when Regina returned to their table. "They make quite the couple don't they?"

"This was your doing wasn't it?" Emma asked.

"Your sister was the winner by a long shot," Regina said, before adding, "But maybe someone else was supposed to be King. Someone who is thankfully no longer here, and therefore I figured why not give it to someone who really deserved it."

"You're such a romantic at heart, aren't you?" Emma said teasingly.

"Oh, Emma Swan-Blanchard, you have no idea." Regina said with a smirk. Emma couldn't help but smile and when everyone's eyes were on Graham and Mary Margaret, Emma's eyes remained on Regina as the song came to an end.

What if we ruin it all and we love like fools?

And all we have we lose?

I don't want you to go but I want you so

So tell me what

Tell me what

Tell me what we choose