A/N: Another new chapter for you guys. I'm feeling super motivated to write at the moment. So I'm ploughing through the story before my little writer's bubble bursts.

Another fluffy one with a bit of humour.

Thanks again for reading. Enjoy!

"SNOW!"

Regina awoke with a start at the loud exclamation. Sitting bolt upright with wide eyes and a blank expression, she didn't even notice the other women she had pushed to the floor in her daze.

"What the hell?" A confused Emma said with a frown, rubbing her sore hip. She wasn't fully awake yet. She looked around the room trying to understand why she was sprawled across her living room floor. Scrunching up her eyes and yawning, she pushed herself to her feet. Once she was upright and relatively aware of her surroundings, Emma noticed the stricken brunette who was sitting on her sofa, frozen to the spot. "Morning," Emma said awkwardly, scratching her head as she thought of the position they must have spent the previous night in. Emma knew she had a habit of snuggling while she slept. This wasn't something that she wanted to be made public knowledge. She had a certain image that she liked to maintain, and wrapping herself around someone like a koala bear didn't do much to uphold it. "We must have fallen asleep during the film." Regina didn't move. She didn't speak. The blonde was sure she must have done something to upset the other woman. Oh shit, I probably felt her up or something. No wonder she looks so horrified. "I know I can get a bit handsy in my sleep. So, sorry about that." The other woman didn't flinch. She didn't even acknowledge Emma's presence. Emma frowned and mumbled, "Not a morning person, huh?" She wasn't prepared to continue the one-sided conversation any longer. So instead, made her way to the kitchen and called over her shoulder. "I'll just go make us some coffee then."

Regina was vaguely aware of the blonde's presence, but she was too distracted to respond to it. Her mind was busy whirring with other, less pleasant thoughts. Thoughts of a wretched raven haired girl who just couldn't help but meddle in her life. And just as she was starting to become comfortable in her new land. Regina should have known that it wasn't meant to last. She shouldn't have allowed herself to get so settled, and dare she say it- happy.

"SNOW!"

Pulling herself from her musings, Regina stood and tried her best to get herself into to a more presentable state. Smoothing down her slightly tangled hair and straightening the less than imposing outfit she wore, she took up an intimidating stance. However, with a grey hoodie, leggings and bare feet; she didn't quite have the same impact she once did as the Evil Queen.

"Where?" She snarled, clenching her teeth and loosening her shoulders. If Snow White thought for one second that I'd leave without a fight, she has another thing coming. Regina wasn't afraid to use her fists if need be.

"Outside. It's snowing," Henry said excitedly as he ran out of his bedroom wearing a hat and scarf. "Where are my boots?"

Regina looked on agog. It was snow, as in the cold form of precipitation. It was evident now that she'd had the chance to consider it. Of course it wasn't Snow White. She was being irrational to even jump to such a conclusion. The brunette visibly relaxed. However, she found it a little disconcerting how much she had been unsettled by the prospect of losing her life in this new land. Or perhaps it was just the idea of seeing or former step-daughter again that had her on edge. Either way, it was something for her to ponder.

"Woah! Hold on Young Man. You are not going outside dressed like that." Emma said with an amused grin as Henry ran from room to room hunting for his shoes. She loved snow as much as the next person, but spiderman pyjamas weren't the most appropriate clothing choice for the weather. "You need breakfast first anyway."

"Ma-a. Please." Henry drawled. At the unwavering look on his mother's face, he soon relented. He knew when not to push her too far. The boy hunched his shoulders and threw his scarf and hat on the sofa. "Fine, breakfast first. Then can I go play in the snow?"

"Only if I can too." Emma laughed.

"Deal!" Henry held out his hand for his mother to shake on it.

"Miss Swan, you are an overgrown child," Regina said as she joined the pair at the kitchen counter. She had changed back into her own outfit from the day before and was decidedly more cheery than a few minutes prior.

"Good morning to you too." Emma grinned and handed her a mug, which she took gratefully. "I didn't know if you took sugar." Regina sipped the drink- it was passable.

"It's fine. Thank you."

"Morning Regina. Do You want Pancakes? Ma's making some." Henry smirked, knowing full well that his mother had said no such thing. But if he was being forced to eat breakfast instead of having snowball fights, there'd better be some pancakes involved.

"Since when?" Emma looked at him knowingly. "I didn't mention anything about making Pancakes."

"Well, Regina wants them and she's a guest. So…" He shrugged his shoulders, knowing that his argument was won. His mother was way too easy to manipulate sometimes. The brunette remained silent but hid her smile behind her coffee mug. Emma rolled her eyes at her son and sighed dramatically.

"Fine, pancakes it is."

Emma took this an opportunity to show off her cooking own skills, which mainly revolved around breakfast food. Namely: pancakes, omelettes, anything that could be tossed in a frying pan and cereal- which totally counted if you asked her. (Toast did not make the list, Emma Swan and toasters were not a good combination- but that's a whole other story). Once she managed to make enough pancakes for three people, or for eight if it were any other household, they sat around the dining table and ate their breakfast together.

Emma made her way through a stack of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream. Followed by a bowl of cocoa pops, a bear claw and a banana. She also received several looks of mortification from the brunette at the amount of food she'd consumed. But the blonde didn't let that get in the way of her eating pleasure.

Regina had a more respectable portion of pancakes, which she found pleasant enough. They would have been even better with an apple puree or sauce of some kind. She made a mental note to practice making some for herself.

At one point, in his eagerness to get outside, Henry had eaten his breakfast so quickly that he almost choked. His mother gave him a firm slap on the back during his coughing fit, and a telling off for not chewing his food properly.

"Okay, I'm finished. Can I go outside now" Henry gave his mother his best puppy-dog eyes, "Ple-ease."

"Get washed and dressed and you can go."

"Yess" He fist pumped the air and ran off to the bathroom.

"And remember your coat and gloves," Emma shouted after him.

"'Kay" was the distant reply.

Emma cleared away the plates and grabbed her coffee. She hopped up onto the kitchen counter and sat regarding the other woman who was now getting up from the dining table. Neither woman had spoken about what had happened the previous night- well, other than Emma's failed attempt at a conversation first thing that morning. And neither had felt particularly compelled to bring it up over the breakfast table. But now they were alone, they couldn't get it out of their minds. Regina began shuffling from one foot to the other. It was was very unlike her; she didn't shuffle, she glided effortlessly and with purpose. Emma fidgeted with her mug, twisting it in her hands and staring very intently at its contents. After little too long of an awkward silence, one of them spoke up.

"I'm going to leave now. I will bring back your clothing once it has been laundered. Thank you for breakfast, Miss Swan."

Emma looked up from whatever was so interesting in her mug and gave the other woman a lopsided smile. "No problem. We should do it again sometime." At Regina's non-response she continued to talk. "I mean hang out and eat food." Emma seemed to have developed a habit of babbling around the brunette whenever she felt uncomfortable. She couldn't understand it; she never acted like this around anyone else. It was as if the connection between her brain and mouth had short-circuited. "With Henry- eat food and hang out with Henry. He would be there too, not just the two of us. Unless you wanted it to be the two of us? That would be an equally good hang out situation." The brunette narrowed her eyes at Emma as she ploughed on with her chatter. "Or not, I'm easy either way. Light and breezy, that's me." The blonde gave an almost indiscernible wince as she came to the end of her sentence. She tried to mask it with a smile; a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and couldn't hide the awkwardness she felt. Emma, be cool. Stop acting like a bloody idiot. What the fuck is wrong with you?

"Yes, light and breezy," Regina said as she bit her lip, trying to stop the laugh that was desperate to escape. The sight of the uncomfortable blonde, who was anything but light and breezy, was enough to ease the tension she'd felt. Emma let out a stilted laugh and jumped down off the counter.

"Arghh, shit. I forgot about my leg for a sec." She rubbed her calf and thigh, which were now throbbing. She began to stretch out her leg, doing lunges and bending over at the waist. Regina watched on intently. "You couldn't do me a favour, could you?" Emma said from her bent position as she touched her toes. Regina distractedly hummed her agreement. The blonde slowly unfurled herself to a vertical position and started unbuttoning her pyjama top. Regina's eyes darted down the watch the blonde's hands, "Miss Swan, what are you doing?" she gulped; she tried to sound outraged, but the slight quiver in her voice gave her away.

xxxxxxx

"Oh fuck…yes…right there…" Emma let out a moan.

"Should we try a different position?"

"No, no…this is good…harder, Regina."

"How much longer is this going to take?" Regina asked breathlessly.

"I'm almost done."

xxxxxx

"Ma…Regina…What are you two doing?"

"My leg started cramping," Emma said as she lay sprawled on the living room floor in her tank top and boxers. Her left leg was being pushed towards her chest by the other woman.

"Okay, I'm just gonna leave you guys to it," Henry said as he wrapped his scarf around his neck and put his hat on his head. "I'm off outside."

"Wait, I thought you said I could come too." The indignant blonde sat up and rested on her elbow. Regina let go of her leg and raised an eyebrow at the outraged woman.

"You were being serious?" Henry laughed. "I thought you were just saying that as a joke or something."

"Uh no. I was deadly serious."

"Well, hurry up then," the boy huffed; he'd waited long enough already.

"Gimme two minutes to get changed." Emma got up from the floor and grabbed her discarded pyjamas. She looked up and gave the other woman a smile. "Oh, and thanks for your help, Regina."

Henry chatted with Regina while he waited for his mother to get ready. It only took a couple of minutes for the woman to emerge in a thick flannel shirt, jeans and boots. She finished the outfit with a knitted hat, scarf and gloves. And of course, her red leather jacket. She was now fully prepared to face the cold.

"I'm going to head back my apartment so you children can have fun in the snow," Regina said with a smirk. It was hard to tell which of the Swan's were more excited at the prospect of playing outside.

"You should come with us," Henry said.

"You know you want to." His mother added.

"I really don't think I do."

"We can build a Snowman." Henry suggested, but Regina remained impassive

"Make snow angels" Emma tried, who'd say no to snow angles?

Evidently, Regina would.

Henry remembered his favourite thing to do in the snow. This was bound to convince the woman. "We could go sledding," he said with an eager grin.

"Or have a snowball fight," Emma said, which gained a high five from her son.

"This is sounding less and less appealing by the second."

"Come on, it will be so much fun." Henry made one last ditch attempt. He was pulling out the big guns- his puppy dog eyes. He even paired it with a chin quiver for added effect. "Please."

"Yeah, Regina. So much fun." The brunette watched as the pair gave her matching pleading expressions. It was almost comical.

"Fine, I will be down soon." She relented with a chuckle. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to partake in any of your foolishness." Both Swan's nodded, and grinned in response.

xxxxxxx

Once Regina had changed into more appropriate attire, she headed downstairs to the small yard outside the apartment building. She could hear the peals of laughter and shouts of delight before she could see either Henry or Emma. Quietly, she opened the door and watched the mother and son playing happily in the snow. They were both laughing as they lay on their backs next to one another, moving their arms and legs. Why had she agreed to this again?

Luckily for her, she hadn't been spotted and the duo were already moving on to their next activity.

"Okay, so'Il start rolling the body. You make the head." Emma instructed her son, who instantly began compacting the snow into a ball. Looking up, Emma spotted the brunette in the doorway. "Are you just gonna stand there staring? Or are you gonna help me?"

"I'm quite content to watch. You carry on with whatever it is you're doing."

"I was being rhetorical."

"I'm perfectly fine standing here regardless."

"Nope, nuh-uh. Unacceptable." Emma shook her head and bent down with a mischievous grin.

"What are you doing, Miss Swan?" Regina asked. Although, she had a pretty good idea what the blonde was up to. "You had better not be doing what I think you are." The other woman didn't answer, just began to pat the snow in her hands to form a ball. She straightened her legs and stalked closer to the brunette; the smirk never leaving her face. Regina held up her hands, but it wouldn't do much to protect her from the inevitable. "Emma, no. Stop it." She tried to give her best menacing stare, but it was ruined by the suppressed giggles that were causing her shoulders to shake and her lips to form into a curve.

"Snowball fight!" Emma shouted and threw the projectile directly at Regina's head.

The snowball fight quickly escalated into a full-blown war when several more children from the building decided to join them. A very one sided war which involved all the children versus Emma and Regina. The women were standing behind a wall taking a few moments to breathe and rethink their tactics. Peering around the corner, Emma came up with a new plan. "If we can get to that tree. We'll have more cover and a better angle to attack."

"Or we could just leave the children to play amongst themselves?" Regina suggested. Now that the adults were out of sight, the children were happily playing together. She was starting to think it was only the blonde who was still in the midst of battle.

"Never. I will not surrender."

"Fine." The brunette rolled her eyes and shook her head at the child-like stubbornness of the woman. Although it didn't take much for her to concede to her antics- Regina wasn't one to quit either. "But how do you propose we get there? We'll be completely exposed."

Emma turned back and leant against the wall, facing Regina. "Okay. Gimme a second to think." She closed her eyes to focus on formulating a plan. "Right, I've got it. I will head out first and cause a distraction. Then, I'll leg it in the opposite direction, and you can get behind the tree and take cover."

"And what about you? How will you get to the tree?"

"I dunno, I haven't thought that far ahead…Regina, what are you doing?" The brunette was walking out from their hiding place into open territory.

"You don't always have to be the saviour, Miss Swan," Regina said with a warm smile. "We'll do it together."

xxxxxxx

"We may have lost the battle, but we've won the war," Emma shouted in defiance, covered from head to toe in snow.

"Nope, pretty sure you lost the war too, Ma." Henry laughed.

"How come I'm the only one covered in snow? Regina was there too?"

"Yeah, but she didn't take it as seriously as you." The boy stated matter of factly. " Also, I'm pretty sure she joined our side at one point."

"What? You abandoned me?" The blonde said with disbelief and a slight pang of hurt.

"Don't be so dramatic. I simply got my revenge for the earlier snowball to my head." Regina dismissed the other woman with a smirk.

"I suppose all's fair in love and war," Emma said wistfully, then quickly amended her statement with wide-eyed realisation. "Or, just war in this case." They stood awkwardly for a moment. Emma found a really interesting patch of snow to look at and kick. Regina spotted a snow-covered branch in the tree that was rather fascinating.

"Are we gonna finish our snowman or what?" Henry asked, breaking the tension.

"Yes, absolutely" and "That's a wonderful idea." Were Emma and Regina's overly enthusiastic replies.

The trio built two snowmen - or one snowman and snow woman to be precise. Henry was busy looking for sticks to use as arms. Regina was using stones to make their faces, and Emma was dressing them in scarfs and hats.

"What's the difference between a snowman and a snow woman?" Emma asked.

Regina paused for a moment to think about her reply. "Presuming snow people have similar characteristics to humans, then I'd go with superior logic and the ability to multitask."

"Huh? No…Snowballs! Get it? Snowballs!"Emma chuckled to herself. Met by a blank face, she went back to wrapping a scarf around the snowman and added. "It was a joke. If you have to explain it, then it loses the funny."

"Well, it wasn't very amusing."

"Agree to disagree."

Henry came running over to the pair and threw his pile of sticks on the floor. His cheeks were flushed and he was slightly out of breath. "Ma, some of the boys are going sledding. Can I go?" He bobbed on the spot in anticipation of the answer.

"Sure Kid, but don't go too far. And keep your hat and scarf on."

"'Kay." He was already running toward the group of teenagers.

"And text me if you need me," Emma shouted after him. He didn't look back, just waved over his shoulder.

Emma finished off the snowmen by placing the sticks so it looked like they were holding hands. "There, perfect," She said with a satisfied smile. It began snowing again; thick, soft snowflakes that stay on your nose and eyelashes. Emma shivered, now that she had used half of her outwear to dress the snowmen she was getting cold.

"Miss Swan, you really should invest in a more weather appropriate coat," Regina said as she watched the blonde tremor. She walked over and stood directly in front of the other woman and began unwrapping her own scarf. "Here, put this on before you catch your death." Emma placed her hand on Regina's to stop her.

"I'm good. I've been colder." The blonde gave a sad smile that was laced with meaning, but Regina didn't pry. She just removed her scarf and placed it around Emma's neck, resting her hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"Thanks," Emma whispered as she looked into intense brown eyes. She reached up to wipe away the snowflake that had settled on Regina's cheek. "We should probably head back inside."

"Yes, we probably should," Regina responded, although neither woman attempted to move.

They didn't know how long they stood like this, getting lost in each others gaze. It was only to sound of Emma's pocket ringing that brought them out of their trance. The moment they'd shared was gone. Regina stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself and Emma fumbled in her pocket to get her cell.

"Hi…yeah sure thing. I'll pop in and see her now…yeah, see you soon. Bye." Emma put her phone away and spoke to Regina to inform her of the conversation. "That was Paul. He can't get over here with all the snow, so he asked if I'd go check on his Gran. You know, see if she needs anything."

"You should go to her then," Regina stated, getting her composure back.

"Yeah, I'm going now." Emma scratched her head and shifted on her feet. There was something she had been meaning to ask the other woman, and now was as good of a time as any to do it. "Um, I was just wondering what you were doing on Christmas Day?"

"Nothing in particular. Why?" Regina shrugged, it was just another day to her. She would undoubtedly spend it alone. Not that it mattered, it wasn't like she celebrated the holiday.

"Well, me and Henry are having dinner with Mable and Paul, and I was kinda thinking that if you had no other plans, you might like to come too?" The blonde gave a hopeful, but self-conscious smile. "No pressure either way." She didn't want the other woman to feel obliged to join them.

Regina was taken aback by the offer. Whilst she didn't mark the tradition, she knew that it was a special occasion in this land. One that was spent with family and loved ones. She felt honoured that she was being asked, and it would be rude to turn down such a generous invitation. "Yes, I would love too."

"Great." Emma's face lit up with a wide smile. "That's really good. I'll let you know more when I do." She decided she really ought to leave before she started babbling again, causing Regina to change her mind. "Right, I'd better go see Mable now. I'll tell her that she'll need to set another place at the table for Christmas Dinner." She began to walk backwards towards the door, tripping occasionally, but never losing her smile or taking her eyes off the other woman. "See you later then."

"Goodbye, Emma."

Additional A/N: Anyone spot the Sound of music reference and start singing? Just me? (I'm such a nerd sometimes).

Christmas antics next time to look forward to :)