I do not own the rights to the TV show, the characters, or the music. This is just me writing as a fan.
No copyright infringement intended. Pls don't sue me. :)
Listen to Heart Of Gold by Shawn Mendes while reading this. Adds to it, imo.
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"The Little Things (That Make a Heart Fall)"
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Regina Mills was having an existential crisis. It started, as most inconvenient things did, with Emma Swan doing something ridiculously, insufferably endearing.
She'd been watching from her office window as Emma helped a group of kindergarteners cross the street. Simple enough, except Emma had made it into an elaborate game, pretending to be a train conductor with the children forming a "train" behind her, complete with sound effects and exaggerated movements that had the kids giggling uncontrollably.
And Regina, instead of rolling her eyes at the display as she should have, found herself smiling. Not just smiling – her heart had done that inconvenient little flutter that had been happening more and more frequently around Emma lately.
"Oh no," Regina whispered to herself, pressing a hand to her chest as realization dawned. "No, no, no."
But once the thought had taken root, she couldn't stop noticing things. Little things. Infuriating things. Like how Emma always saved her a bear claw at Granny's, even though Regina consistently claimed to hate them (she didn't – not when Emma brought them). Or how Emma would casually step between Regina and any potential threat, no matter how small, as if protecting Regina was as natural as breathing.
The memories started flooding in, unbidden and overwhelming:
Last week, when Emma had spent three hours helping Henry with his science project, her face scrunched in concentration as she tried to understand middle school physics, refusing to give up until Henry fully understood the concept.
The way Emma somehow always knew when Regina was having a rough day, showing up with coffee and terrible jokes until Regina couldn't help but smile.
That time during the latest magical crisis when Emma had thrown herself in front of a spell meant for Regina without a second thought, then had the audacity to grin up at her from the ground and say, "Worth it."
"This is ridiculous," Regina muttered, pacing her office. "I cannot be in love with Emma Swan."
But even as she said it, another memory surfaced:
Yesterday morning, Emma had burst into her office, wild-eyed and determined, brandishing a sword.
"Regina!" she'd called out dramatically. "There's a spider in the sheriff's station!"
Regina had stared at her for a long moment. "And you brought a sword because...?"
"Well, I couldn't find a cup and paper," Emma had explained, as if this was perfectly reasonable. "And what if it's like a magical spider? Better safe than sorry."
"So your solution was to bring a sword to kill one spider?"
Emma had looked down at the sword, then back at Regina, her expression sheepish but unrepentant. "I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds silly."
"That's because it is silly, Miss Swan."
But Emma had just grinned, that bright, uninhibited smile that made her eyes crinkle at the corners. "Yeah, but you're smiling, so who's really winning here?"
Regina had been smiling, she realized now. She'd been smiling a lot around Emma lately.
Like when Emma had organized a surprise birthday party for Henry, but had gotten so excited she'd blurted out the secret two days early, then spent hours trying to convince Henry he'd misheard her.
Or when she'd attempted to learn magic with such determined enthusiasm that she'd accidentally turned her hair blue for a week, but still showed up to every town meeting with her head held high, daring anyone to comment.
Regina sank into her chair, pressing her fingers to her temples. "I'm in love with an idiot," she said aloud, and the words felt both terrifying and somehow right.
Because yes, Emma was an idiot. But she was an idiot who looked at Regina like she hung the moon, who defended her fiercely to anyone who dared question her redemption, who somehow managed to be both the most frustrating and most endearing person Regina had ever met.
She was an idiot who had turned up at Regina's door at midnight during a thunderstorm because "Henry mentioned you don't like storms, and I thought maybe you'd want company? I brought movies. And chocolate. And, uh, more chocolate."
An idiot who had spent six hours helping Regina reorganize her filing system, not because she had to, but because Regina had mentioned feeling overwhelmed. She'd labeled everything wrong and created more chaos than order, but she'd stayed, ordering takeout and making Regina laugh until the task felt less daunting.
As if summoned by Regina's thoughts, a knock at her office door preceded Emma herself poking her head in.
"Hey," she said, that familiar smile lighting up her face. "I brought lunch. And before you say anything, yes, I got you a salad, but I also got fries because we both know you're going to steal mine anyway."
Regina felt her heart do that flutter again as Emma bounded in, setting out their lunch with casual familiarity. She watched as Emma rambled about her morning, hands gesturing animatedly as she described breaking up an argument between Leroy and Happy about proper pickaxe maintenance.
"—and then Leroy said something about Happy's technique being 'sub-par', which apparently is fighting words in dwarf culture? I don't know, but I had to—Regina? You okay? You're looking at me funny."
Regina startled, realizing she'd been staring. "I'm fine," she said quickly, but her voice came out softer than intended. "Just... thinking."
"About what?" Emma asked, tilting her head in that puppyish way she had.
About how you're the most infuriating person I've ever met, Regina thought. About how you make everything brighter just by being in the room. About how somewhere between all the arguments and shared parenting and magical disasters, I fell in love with your ridiculous heroics and your terrible jokes and your boundless heart.
"About how you're still wearing your badge upside down," she said instead, but she couldn't quite keep the fondness out of her voice.
Emma looked down, laughed, and fixed her badge. "What would I do without you keeping me presentable?" she asked, grinning that grin that made Regina's heart skip.
"Crash and burn, dear," Regina replied, but she was smiling too, helplessly, hopelessly.
Because she was in love with Emma Swan. Emma, who was currently trying to build a fort out of french fries while explaining her latest theory about fairy tale physics. Emma, who looked at Regina like she was just Regina, not the Evil Queen or the Mayor or anyone else's version of who she should be.
And maybe, Regina thought as she watched Emma's face light up with another one of her ridiculous stories, that wasn't such a terrible realization after all.
Because falling in love with Emma Swan might not have been part of her plan, but then again, the best parts of her life rarely were.
"Regina? You're doing it again. The staring thing."
"Just wondering how I ended up with such a child for a sheriff."
Emma's smile softened into something that made Regina's breath catch. "Yeah, but you love it."
Yes, Regina thought, her heart full of a warmth she'd once thought she'd never feel again. I really do.