The next day, Henry sent Snow a text letting her know his moms had made up. They were now ready for phase two of Operation SwanQueen. Snow cautioned him not to push things too much too quickly, and he promised he'd follow her advice. Lunch at Granny's with the two of them couldn't hurt, right? Henry texted both of them separately asking them to meet him at the diner. Emma had gotten there first, all too eager for a grilled cheese and to make up for lost time with Henry. When Regina arrived to find Emma and Henry already at a table together, she was a little surprised. Trying to gather her thoughts from the overwhelming dream she'd had the night before, she took a deep breath and gave her best smile.

"Hi, Henry! Emma…"

"Hey, Mom," Henry replied brightly.

"Hey, Regina…" Emma replied less convincingly. Regina noted her strange behavior and decided to deal with it later.

"Did you two already order?"

"We did, but I can get Ruby for you," Emma said as she walked over to the counter without waiting for a response. Regina followed her.

"Are we going to talk about why you left in such a hurry last night? One minute, you're ready to get sloppy drunk and pass out in my guest room. The next, you can't get out of there fast enough. I thought I was the one person you wanted to be around," she teased.

Emma blushed furiously. "I'm sorry. I just…I…"

"Hey, Regina! What can I get for you," Ruby asked, saving Emma for the moment from explaining.

"I'll have my usual salad, coffee, and water. Thank you."

Regina turned back to the Sheriff. "So?"

"We should…get back to Henry…"

Regina squinted her eyes at her as she watched her slink back to the booth next to their son. This wasn't over. Henry noticed how painfully uncomfortable Emma seemed to be all through lunch. When she left before they could split dessert, he knew something was up.

"I thought you said you and mom weren't fighting anymore."

Regina looked at him with her hands in the air. "We're not! At least I don't think we are. She's acting strange and I don't know why."

Henry thought for a minute. "Maybe she's afraid to tell you something."

Regina looked at him confused. "Afraid to tell me what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. The last time she was like this she was trying to avoid dating Hook."

Regina looked at him surprised. "So…what, you think she's just upset over Hook?"

Henry shook his head. "No, I think she's having feelings she usually runs from before she faces them."

Regina raised her brow. "What kind of feelings?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "Romantic feelings. Duh."

"Henry!"

"I'm sorry. It just seems kind of obvious."

"Well when did you become such an expert?"

"I've been watching the two of you dance around your feelings for years now. You two aren't very subtle."

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

"I just mean that when you were confronted with Robin Hood you didn't exactly jump right in, and mom was the same way with Hook."

Regina looked down, trying to chase the sad pang of regret from her heart. Then she remembered her dream. "Do you think she has feelings for someone else and she feels guilty because she just lost Hook?"

Henry tried hard not to smile. "Could be."

Regina looked at him suspiciously before sighing and kissing his forehead. "Well, I'll try to talk to her later. I have to get back to work. I love you, Henry."

"I love you too, Mom."

As soon as Regina left, Henry pulled out his phone to send Snow a message.

The seed has been planted.

…..

Regina couldn't focus on her work. She couldn't stop thinking about what Henry had inferred and that stupid dream she'd had. There was no way Emma could have feelings for her. However, the more she thought about their recent conversations and things that had happened between them in the past, the more it all seemed to line up. She put her head in her hands and tried hard to only focus on her breathing. She needed a clear head to get through the rest of this day and figure out what to do. Unfortunately, all she could see in her mind was images from her dream. Suddenly, she felt a surge of warmth spreading through her.

"Oh no…" she groaned.

Not now in the middle of work. She sighed and stared furiously at her inbox in front of her. Work. She needed to get back to work. Another surge of arousal spread through her, taking her breath away.

"Oh God…"

It was almost like Emma was there touching her. Suddenly, she was imagining Emma pushing her on top of her desk at the station. Regina closed her eyes and spread her legs just a bit to relieve the tension building there. Breathing heavy now, she imagined Emma's hands gliding up her skirt, pulling off her underwear as she whimpered. When she pictured Emma sinking her fingers deep inside of her, she had to touch herself.

"Fuck…" she mumbled in desire and frustration.

She slipped her hand under her skirt and began to ease the ache between her legs. It was an instant relief when she touched herself and moaned quietly.

Across town, Emma found herself alone her in office trying to chase away the overwhelming thoughts she was having of Regina. She was so close to her own climax as she imagined Regina on top of her desk at her mercy. The moment she reached orgasm, she called out Regina's name again as the mayor whimpered Emma's name in her own release.

Regina was surprised at how easy Emm's name fell off her lips in a moment of ecstasy. She didn't hate the thought of being with her. On the contrary, she was very much enjoying the little fantasy before she realized she still had work to finish. Frustrated with her own lack of self-control, she pulled herself together and somehow managed to finish enough work for her to deem acceptable before heading home.

After she and Henry had eaten dinner, he excused himself to his room for the night to play video games until bedtime. Regina was left alone with her thoughts once more. After two glasses of wine, Regina decided to look more into Henry's theory. She pulled out her phone and sent Emma a message.

Feel like being my drinking buddy again?

It took longer than Regina had hoped before she got a response, but she was not disappointed.

Sure. I'll be over soon.

Regina was practically humming with anticipation, which made her feel ridiculous. By the time Emma arrived, she was halfway through glass number three. Emma couldn't help but stare at Regina's wine flushed cheeks and how sexy she looked standing there smiling at her. This was going to be difficult.

"Would you like some wine?"

"Uh…do you have anything stronger?"

Regina chuckled. "More cider?"

"Sure. You know I'm a sucker for it."

"Are you really," Regina said in a tone far more seductive than she'd ever dare use with this Sheriff.

"It's really good," Emma said lamely as she downed half the glass. Regina finished off her wine and poured cider for herself.

"Well, you have some catching up to do, so drink up."

Emma smiled at her amused. "You're trying to get me drunk this time?"

"Perhaps…" she said with a seductive smile that made Emma's knees weak. She chugged the entire glass of cider and poured herself another, making Regina laugh.

"I didn't mean you had to catch up that fast."

"Oh, I have a feeling I'm going to need it."

Regina raised her brow, "I've gone from being the one person you want to be with to someone you now have to be drunk to be around?"

"Why do you keep bringing that up," Emma whined.

"That happens to be the best compliment I've gotten in…well ever. Forgive me if I hold onto it."

Emma blushed. "I'm glad it made you happy."

"It did. It does. I…" Regina trailed off and shook her head, tears threatening to fall.

"Regina, what is it? You can tell me."

Emma placed her hand on her shoulder concerned.

"It's just…I was supposed to be Robin's person. He was supposed to be my one person. When I lost him, I thought that was it for me. It helps a lot to know someone else needs me or wants me for any reason."

Emma's heart was pounding. She'd never wanted to kiss her as much as she did at that very moment. "Regina, I do need you and…want you...around…"

Regina's face fell a bit flat at the addition of the word "around." Quickly, she replaced it with a somewhat sarcastic smile. "Happy to be of service."

Emma frowned as Regina drank a significant amount once more. "That's not what I meant. I'm…I'm not great at this stuff. You know that."

"Oh, what do I know, Miss Swan? I'm beginning to think I don't know anything at all."

Emma was growing worried now. "What do you mean? What do you want to know?"

"I want to know why you're acting so strange lately!"

"I'm not acting strange!"

"Yes, you are! Even our son noticed it. Now if I'm supposed to be the person you can be real with, tell me the truth."

Emma growled in frustration and stared pacing as she drank the rest of her cider. As she filled it up again, she took one more big drink before taking a deep breath. "I'm having a hard time with my feelings."

Regina rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Could you be more vague?"

"I'm trying, ok!?"

Regina sighed and motioned for her to continue as she drank some more. Emma took a moment to get herself together. "I…I'm having feelings that I don't know what to do with. Feelings I don't think I should have."

"Because of Hook?"

Emma looked at her surprised. "I…sort of."

"Emma, if you're having feelings for someone and you feel guilty because you just lost Hook, that's normal. You don't have to feel guilty, though. I'm sure he'd want you to be happy. And if he wouldn't want that, then he wasn't worthy of you to begin with."

Emma was completely shocked. Regina had always been open about how she felt about Hook. She'd made dozens of comments about how Emma deserved better, but Emma had always left it at them having some complicated past. Now, it made her feel differently.

"I guess you're right. My biggest concern though is that I don't think these feelings are going to be reciprocated. So, I'm just trying to get rid of them before they cause more trouble."

Regina rolled her eyes again. "And just how do you plan to do that?"

Emma sighed, "I don't know."

"Emma, there's only one way for this go. You need to face your feelings. Tell whoever it is how you feel. If they feel the same, you get a happy ending. If they don't then you can really work on letting go."

"I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"Well, don't take too long."

The two of them sat in silence for a while, just drinking and thinking. Emma finally spoke up. "So did you really call me over here to get drunk with you because you wanted to know why I was acting weird?"

"Yes," Regina admitted easily.

"It was really bothering you that much," Emma asked amused.

"Yes, it was. I don't like not knowing what's going on."

Emma snorted. "Control freak."

"Excuse me?"

"You're such a control freak," she laughed.

Regina raised her brow and smirked. "You have no idea…"

The tone in her voice made Emma shiver.

"What? Nothing to say now?" Regina laughed at how uncomfortable Emma seemed.

"You just hate that you can't control me. You always have. I'm the one chaotic element in your life you can't get a handle on."

Regina felt the queen inside of her dying to come out and put the Savior in her place. She wanted to play desperately. It unnerved her how much she wanted it.

"Oh, I could…"

"With what, magic?"

"No…"

The sultry look in Regina's eyes made Emma swallow hard. Regina leaned in close so their noses almost touched. Her voice was low and velvety. "I think you've had enough for tonight."

She took Emma's glass and grabbed her wrist to lead her upstairs. Emma followed her while panicking inside. What was happening? Before she could ask, she found herself in front of a door.

"This is the guest room. Everything you need should be in there."

"Uh…thanks…" Emma stuttered. "Night."

"Goodnight, Emma," Regina said seductively.

As soon as Emma was inside the guest room, she let out the breath she'd been holding since they started up the stairs. She looked around the room and noticed every single detail. She was all too happy to be surrounded by Regina without being with her. She couldn't believe she was expected to spend the night in the next bedroom. Being this close to her was bound to be torture. With all the cider running through her and Regina's sensual teasing, Emma couldn't contain herself. She stripped down to her underwear, climbing into the big bed and immediately began to relieve herself of all that tension.

Regina had her suspicions about who Emma had feelings for and she needed to know. She knew Emma wasn't just going to tell her. She was far too stubborn for that. Her plan did leave her feeling a little guilty, but she felt if it gave her the answer she hoped it would, she could make up for it later. When Regina felt a familiar warmth spreading through her, she waved her hand over her vanity mirror to look in on Emma through the mirror in the guest bedroom. Sure enough, Emma was touching herself.

"Well now I know what's been making me so crazy lately…"

As she watched the Savior, her mouth watered. It wasn't until she heard the confirmation of Emma uttering Regina's name that she was able to breathe again. It felt like she was suddenly gasping for air. She wanted to run into that bedroom and have her way with the Sheriff more than anything. However, this required a little more delicacy. Instead, Regina fell into bed pleasuring herself once more as she channeled her feelings to Emma the way Emma had to her unconsciously. In the mirror, Regina watched as Emma was worked into a frensy with Regina's feelings added into the mix. She knew she wouldn't understand, but she couldn't help the intense pleasure she felt knowing the effect she had on her. For the third time that week, they reached climax together, calling out for each other.

"Oh God…Emma…soon…" Regina promised before falling into a deep sleep.