A/N: **********THIS IS A DOUBLE CHAPTER UPDATE*********
Don't want you to miss the previous chapter. This was a double update.
Over the next few days, Emma and Henry spent nearly every minute with Regina. It had stopped seeming odd to Emma after the second morning when Regina had swaggered into the diner and eaten breakfast with them. Apparently, this was how it was going to be now.
Something like a friendship had begun to form between them. They joked, they laughed. And if Emma was honest, they flirted. A lot. But that was easy to do with someone like Regina.
Knowing her car would be ready at the end of the week, Emma decided to just roll with it. Besides, there were far worse things in life than spending her vacation with a beautiful woman. Try as she might, Emma couldn't stop her mind from thinking of how sexy she looked, how quick her wit and clever her conversation. Regina Mills was the living embodiment of everything Emma had ever found attractive in a woman before. So she was leaving soon… it was ok to day dream until then.
But it isn't probably ok to pretend you are a family walking in the park, eating ice cream, Swan.
Emma shook her head and tried to listen to what Regina was saying about a well in the woods nearby that was supposed to restore lost things. Beautiful, funny and so damn perfect.
~ (SQ) ~
The week was almost over and soon Michael would have the bug ready to roll. Regina wasn't making the kind of progress she would like, but she was enjoying just being with Emma and Henry. In a way, she liked getting to know Emma like this… without the baggage and the fighting that had been the beginning of their relationship. She liked Emma never knowing she had been the Evil Queen. But, if they were to stay and Emma to be complete, she would have to remember.
Think about that later, Regina.
Regina laughed as she watched Emma and Henry gleefully reenacting an incident in New York. Emma had bumped into a rather large woman and caused her to spill her coffee. She was trying to apologize and help clear the mess when the woman's small son had come up and kicked her in the shin, knocking Emma onto her rear on the sidewalk.
"Poor Emma, are you always prone to clumsiness?" Regina teased with a wink.
"No. I am not always clumsy. Sometimes I am downright graceful." Emma straightened and pulled out her wallet, sending Henry to get them all a lemonade from the concession vendor. "In fact, some of my dance moves are a thing of beauty… or so I've been told."
Emma dropped onto the bench by Regina, closer than was strictly necessary and her leg brushed against the brunette's. Regina felt it like a shockwave through her body. Emma's magic may still be unknown to her, but Regina felt it gaining strength… and it was delicious.
"If you say so." Regina smirked.
"What? You doubt me?" Emma feigned shock.
"Well, in my brief time knowing you dear, you haven't exactly been… well… light on your feet. You've nearly fallen twice just today." Regina shrugged. She was baiting her and wondered if Emma knew it.
"Oh… you are in trouble now, Regina. Get up." Emma jumped to her feet and extended her hand to pull the brunette from her seat.
"What?"
"I said, get up." This time Emma reached and took Regina by the arm and pulled her up.
"My, so strong. Now, Emma… just what is it you have in mind for me?" Regina purred, finally catching Emma's intent.
Emma's face blushed with color but her eyes never lost their determined glitter. "What I have in mind… is to show you how very graceful I can be."
Suddenly Regina was pulled flush to Emma's body and encircled in her arms. "Emma… what—"
"Just hush and let me lead." Emma grinned and began to sing quietly under her breath. Slowly she danced with Regina. In front of the bench. In the park. As if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"And I'll never make you sad again 'cause I swear, I've changed since then. And I'll never make you sorry if you try. Let's let bygones be forgotten. Reconsider me… reconsider me." Emma's voice sang sweetly into the air between them.
Regina looked into green eyes and knew that they were giving her away. She couldn't stop the love, the longing, the happiness at being with Emma like this from spilling forth. Emma's singing faded out but they kept dancing to music only they could hear, gazing deep into each other and both feeling more than they were able to express in words.
Emma stopped swaying with Regina but didn't let her go. She just stood with her arms wrapped around the woman and for a moment, Regina wondered if she was going to kiss her. Instead, she cleared her throat awkwardly and released her.
"Wonder what is keeping the kid with our drinks. I'm suddenly very thirsty." Emma rubbed the back of her neck nervously.
"Me too." Regina husked. If she'd ever doubted how she felt about Emma, she couldn't lie to herself about it now.
"Here we go! Three lemonades. And I will be keeping the change for my troubles." Henry ran up carefully balancing the drinks. "Is everything alright?" Even their son felt the tension in the air.
"Yep. Everything's fine, kid." Emma accepted her drink with a smile. "I think I'll go call Mr. Tillman and see if my car is about ready."
Regina nodded and sat back down. When Henry sat beside her, his eyes followed Emma until she was a safe distance away. "What's going on, Mom?"
"Nothing, dear. Everything is fine." Regina gulped down her lemonade and suddenly wished it was something stronger. She had to make Emma remember before she was gone and it was too late.
~ (SQ) ~
"Well, he said it is ready but he hadn't gotten time to call me yet." Emma sat on the other side of her son on the arm of the bench. "Looks like we can head on up the road."
"What?!" Regina couldn't hide the shock in her voice. She had specifically told Michael not to fix the car.
"But, Ma… I'm enjoying it here." Henry was panicking and it showed in his voice.
"I know, Kid. But we can't just hang out here forever. And I'm sure Regina needs to get back to her life. We've taken up enough of her time as it is." Emma didn't make eye contact with either of them as she spoke.
Regina knew then what was up. Emma was scared and she was running. Was she really feeling something for Regina already? Of course she was. Regina was sure of it. And in classic Emma form she was going to run away.
"Well, you haven't been a burden to me, Emma. I've enjoyed being with you and with Henry. I'd like to think you have enjoyed being with me." She smiled at the blonde, willing her to look at her.
Green eyes locked onto brown for a long moment. "Be that as it may, we really need to get going. So, if you wouldn't mind taking us back to the bed and breakfast, we should be moving on. I think we might be able to reach Rockland tonight if I can find my way back to the interstate."
"Now?! You want to leave now? But Ma—" Henry was visibly shaken by her words. He wasn't ready to go. She hadn't remembered yet. This was all wrong.
"No buts, Henry. We are going." Emma stood and started walking toward Regina's Mercedes.
A light hand on Henry's arm stilled his next cry of resistance. "Henry, don't fight her on this. It will be ok. I promise. I don't know how. But it will. Trust me."
The two brunettes hugged quickly and began a somber walk behind the blonde.
~ (SQ) ~
Regina sat in her study, quietly nursing her second tumbler of cider. It wasn't strong enough and she had already decided to switch to something with a little more burn when she finished this one. The day hadn't gone as she had hoped.
She had tried to convince Emma to wait until the morning to leave but she was stubborn and insisted she was going now. Henry had fought back tears as he said goodbye to her on the sidewalk in front of Granny's with a respectable handshake. They were supposed to be little more than strangers after all.
She had dashed to see Michael then, to question him about the bug. He had smiled sheepishly and told her that he had drug it out as long as he felt he could. But Emma had been so harsh on the phone earlier he had been forced to tell her it was indeed ready.
Regina considered killing him on the spot and would have singed his hair at a minimum if not for Nicolas peering with wide eyes from the other side of a car in for an oil change. Instead she had called him an incompetent imbecile and stormed out.
This couldn't be happening. She couldn't let them go. A call from Snow had come next. Ruby had rung her to say Emma was checking out of the bed and breakfast. Did that mean she was leaving?
"Yes, she is and I don't know how to stop it short of kidnapping her. What should I do, Snow?" Regina's voice was frantic. She didn't know what to do.
Snow took a deep breath. If Regina was asking for her advice then she must be at the end of her rope. "Don't yell at me for giving a hope speech but… everything is going to be ok, Regina. We just have to believe. Emma belongs here. With us. With you. And nothing can stop that from happening. She showed up on your doorstep a week ago out of the blue. So I know… I know that it will be ok. This is just a test. Heroes always face tests on the quest for a happy ending."
Regina had rolled her eyes and hung up shortly after that. She knew in her heart Snow was right. But her brain was not willing to concede so easily. This was bad. She just knew it was. And she was about to lose them all over again.
It was getting dark now and Regina was sure Emma and Henry were well on their way to Rockland by now. Taking another swallow of her cider she steeled her resolve. Tonight she would allow herself to wallow in it. But tomorrow… tomorrow she would think of something.
A knock on the front door pulled her from her thoughts. Who could it be?
Regina pulled open the door and gasped.
"Hi." Emma looked embarrassed but Henry was smiling brightly.
"Emma? Henry? I thought… I thought you were leaving." Regina gripped the door frame to help her stay upright. Twice in one week they'd appeared on her doorstep.
"Yeah, about that. We got to the town line and the bug… she gave out on us again. I guess I shouldn't have rushed Michael, huh? Could we… could we come in and call a wrecker?" Emma shoved her hands into her back pockets and rocked onto the balls of her feet with a grin.
"Of course. Come in." Regina stepped back and let them in.
While Emma talked to Michael, Regina set about making a fast dinner for them. Henry explained that, as if by magic (and certainly it was), the bug had sputtered and stopped along the side of the road leading out of town. He and Emma had again walked the long walk to town and straight to her house.
Emma didn't seem to want to stay for supper but Regina insisted. So, as they had every night this week, they three sat down and ate together at the big dining table. They laughed and after a while, it was as if the tension of the day had fled and everything was back on track. Henry went into the living room to watch TV and Regina invited Emma into her study for a cider.
"Emma," she began tentatively. "I hope you weren't rushing out of town on my account. When we were dancing earlier, I—"
"No, Regina. It… it isn't your fault. I just…" Emma sighed heavily. "Look, the truth is, I am attracted to you. And when we were dancing I got the impression you might be… attracted to me too. And I guess it sorta scared me because… well you live here and we live in New York and I barely even know you. You know? It isn't your fault. I just…" Emma looked at her from the sofa where she had sat down. Regina still stood by the sidebar with two drinks in her hands. "You're really beautiful, you know."
Regina blushed and handed Emma her drink, taking a seat beside her. "You are quite beautiful yourself, Emma." Regina took a sip of her drink and watched Emma closely. "And you weren't wrong today. I do find you attractive. In fact, I find you very attractive and I understand your being nervous about it all. But I see no harm in us sharing a mutual attraction and enjoying our time while you are here. As friends?"
Emma smiled and drank her drink in one big gulp. "As friends? Maybe. But… well… it's not exactly friendship that came to mind in the park." Glancing to the sidebar, Emma stood. "Got anything stronger than this? I need a real drink."
Regina nodded and sipped her cider again. Emma poured herself a scotch and drank it down quickly too. Another scotch poured, she sat back down.
"So… I guess I just made this very awkward, huh?" Emma nudged the coffee table with her foot.
Regina put a hand on her leg to still her movements against the furniture. "No. You didn't. In fact, I'm glad it is out in the open. So why don't we just talk about something else and maybe revisit that discussion when you are more comfortable with it?"
Emma nodded thankfully at the other woman. So damn perfect.
~ (SQ) ~
"Well, I gotta tell you, Gina. I need to get the hell outta here before I kiss you or something stupid." Emma's glazed eyes traced Regina's lips even as her fingers intertwined with Regina's. "I've had a little too much to drink. Call me a cab?"
"Ok. You're a cab." Regina giggled. She too was feeling the effects of her generous libation consumption.
Emma laughed with her and soon Henry was opening the door. "Uh, Ma? Are you guys alright?"
"Henry!" Both women exclaimed together at the boy.
"Hey Kid, me and Gina are just having a drink. How about we stay a few more days in Storybook. Stoneybrooke." Emma looked confused.
"Storybrooke, dear." Regina tucked a blonde lock behind her ear.
"Uh… yeah. I think that would be cool." Henry frowned. "Are you guys drunk?"
"Maybe." Regina giggled and tried to drink from an already empty tumbler.
Henry rolled his eyes and huffed. "Ok. Let's get the two of you to bed."
With a great deal of struggle, Henry helped his mother's upstairs. Regina to her room and Emma across the hall. He helped them both out of their shoes and put them in bed fully clothed. He kissed each of them on the head and told them goodnight. It seemed each of them fell asleep before he was out of their rooms.
Putting a bottle of water by each bed and a couple of Tylenol along with it, Henry shook his head at these women he loved so much. He made his way into his old room, changed into some pajamas and fell into bed. He could only hope they would be ready soon to kiss and bring Emma's memories back. He was getting tired of waiting.
"Sweet dreams, moms." He whispered into the air as he drifted to sleep.