Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Breakfast that morning was… awkward. Very, very awkward, and she’d have teleported out of there if it weren’t for Regina’s hand curling into claws on her thigh, keeping her in place. Not that she wouldn’t have taken Regina with her, because she absolutely would have, but it was definitely one of the more awkward breakfasts she’d ever had.

Regina was handling it like a trooper though. Features carefully blank, eating slowly and neatly, avoiding looking at the masses who were either glaring at her, looking at her with fear and suspicion, or some mixture of all the above.

Most of the Great Hall was silent and had been silent since Emma had escorted Regina in for the morning meal, knowing they both needed to be present as a united front.

Regina had been hesitant but resigned to her frosty reception, but Emma had comforted her outside of view and promised to be there, then her belly had grumbled, and Regina had laughed.

“Of course, you will be,” she said and patted her belly with fondness. Emma had trailed after her with a dopey grin, if the astounded look of the guards were to be judged.

The hall had gone silent instantly, but Regina had lifted her head, and Emma had glared at anyone who dared look their way, and together the two of them walked to their seats at the high-table, arms linked.

She’d have liked to have taken Regina’s hand, but the woman was notoriously private and proper, and now that everyone knew she was Regis, she’d grown slightly distant again.

She would barely let Emma touch her, and she was hardly glancing at her. The rejection sat uncomfortably in Emma’s heart, but she knew Regina was staunchly against PDA, though she would have liked to have held her True Love’s hand, or even looked her in the eye.

Emma knew why she was or suspected it, and she was touched by her thoughtfulness, but she really just wanted her person, Regina was her person. They hadn’t given a name to what they were, but Regina had woken her from a Sleeping Curse, and while they were in this world it was easy to not think of what was waiting for them back in Storybrooke, to show that she cared for her. Regina had barely taken her hand or kissed her since she’d been revealed to the world, and it was driving Emma mental. She hadn’t even been with her when she fell asleep, and it had been a rough night.

All Emma wanted to do was talk to Regina, touch her, and maybe kiss her again. It had been less than a day and she was already craving their closeness, but understood that Regina was feeling vulnerable right now and didn’t want to be perceived as weak. She was pushing Emma away, and it was hurting them both.

Sighing she took a scone and glanced to her right to her father.

Her conversation with her dad had gone better than expected, but then again, he’d always been easier for her to talk with. Maybe it was because she had this preconceived notion that a mother shouldn’t abandon her child for anything, and Snow was a tad overbearing at times, but she’d always gotten on fairly well with David. He was easy-going, relaxed, and didn’t ask her for anything she wasn’t willing to give.

In the beginning he’d regarded her with a wry sense of embarrassment and awe, but they’d settled into a father-daughter duo fairly easily. And… she also didn’t want to face her mother’s tears. Regina could handle those, and she’d talk to her dad. Was she taking the easy way out? Yes, she absolutely was.

She’d dragged him to their quarters and then released the spell holding him in place, and then had to listen to him rant and rave about ‘that woman’ and her mother, and eventually she had threatened to glue him to a seat in order to get him to be quiet.

“Look, I know you don’t trust Regina right now, but can you at least trust me?”

The energy had left him like air escaping a balloon. Sighing, he’d placed his sword down and sat, willing to listen to her.

And so her story had fallen from her lips, being left on the side of the road in a baby blanket, decades alone until her son found her and brought her back to Storybrooke. She could see he didn’t believe her until she mentioned that name, and then he grew contemplative.

For the rest of the story, she cut it fairly short, ending with the evil they were facing back home right now, and how she’d made a Wish and the Genie had granted it and sent her here, on her birthday.

His belief in her story was slow, but he did have to painfully acknowledge that sending her through the wardrobe had been an option, and then he’d had tears in his eyes.

Eventually she had summoned a dreamcatcher and showed him her life through it, and then he’d started to believe her, and that had been hard.

His distress was genuine, and they’d hugged for a long time while he processed, and she knew that he’d feel her loss acutely as though she were dead, and that her being alive but in another realm wouldn’t make it much easier.

Once he believed her, he had questions upon questions, about Henry, about his Cursed self and Snow, and then about the adventures they’d gone on. Then Emma had to admit that everything Regis had told them about his world was true and had happened, and then her father had gone still, very still, and asked if she were the Sheriff.

Emma could only nod, recalling Regina’s mini-breakdown over learning that Snow thought the Mayor and Sheriff were in love, True Love. How right she had been! If only there hadn’t been a curse to prove it!

Emma still wasn’t sleeping well, and only found comfort curled up in Regina’s arms, which wasn’t how she had imagined it would go. Regina would fit in her arms, thank you very much, but she was extremely comfortable in hers, just a little vulnerable being the one needing comfort, rather than the one offering it.

David’s expression grew unreadable for a long time, and Emma knew what question he was going to ask before she voiced it.

“Is the Ev-” and he paused when Emma glared at him. She’d already said that Regina didn’t like to be addressed as the Evil Queen, and Emma wouldn’t stand for it.

“Is the…. Queen …. The mayor?”

Emma broke into a smile and nodded, head lowering slightly. “She’s saved me more times than I can count, Dad. I love her.”

Her father looked ill, maybe even constipated, but he didn’t comment on that any further, and asked her more about her life. She was happy to explain it to him, and was in the middle of discussing the intricacies of American football to him, when she felt a tingle at the edge of her senses.

She turned to the middle of the room in time to see Regina materialise with Snow, and Regina held her former nemesis’ arm as Snow doubled over, not used to teleporting.

Regina was stiff, jaw tense and eyes cold, but she still dragged her former nemesis upright. Emma and her father rose in unison.

“Are you all right?” They both asked, and then shared a glance and a grin, before realising that Emma was asking Regina and not her mother.

“She’ll be fine,” Regina said coolly, released her former stepdaughter and stepped away.

“How was your conversation?” She asked Emma, turning away from the king and queen.

Emma shrugged, looking Regina over. It looked like she was alright, but there was a darkening smudge on her cheek and Emma’s eyes narrowed in on it.

She stormed up to Regina and took her head in her hands, tilting her head in the candlelight to see the darkening bruise better.

“You hit her?” she asked, spinning to her mother in betrayal and then lurching back to Regina, healing magic coating her hands.

“Hold still,” she ordered, and Regina patiently waited for her to heal her, knowing a protest would be futile. Emma was quietly pleased by that. At least Regina understood that her safety and wellbeing was Emma’s priority and wouldn’t be neglected for anything except their son, family, or the town.

“She deserved it,” Snow growled from where David had his arms around her. Emma felt a sting of betrayal and Regina’s eyes softened, a hand coming up to brush against her before falling back at her side.

Regina gave a little shrug, not even slightly apologetic, though there was a weight to her eyes that worried Emam. “It was too easy to goad her.”

Emma sighed. While they might love each other, some things never changed, and Regina was always quietly gleeful when she could poke at Snow White’s composure.

“Behave,” she warned, waggling her finger in Regina’s direction and the woman arched a brow before darting forward to chomp at her finger playfully.

Emma pulled it away quickly, faux glaring at Regina’s innocent expression.

“I’ve been on my best behaviour for months,” she said, and pouted, folding her arms which absolutely pushed her cleavage up. Emma obligingly glanced down at it, and when she looked up a slow and satisfied smile was crossing Regina’s face.

“Don’t I get a reward?” she demanded, voice dropping low, and Emma swallowed. Pure sin was dripping from Regina’s lips and Snow White gave a squeak behind her, reminding Emma of where she was and who she was with.

Regina went still, stiffened, eyes locked on something over Emma’s shoulder before she looked back at Emma.

While they hadn’t done more than kiss since the first time (and it wasn’t Emma’s decision, while she absolutely adored that Regina was being so considerate, she was now starting to think it was something else), Emma remembered it with ease, and longed for another one, but Regina had been almost hesitant and shy to push their relationship further.

She was touchy and affectionate, touching Emma hesitantly as though she might leave, and when Emma was free with her own affection, Regina’s eyes would glow for a moment. Sometimes it hurt to look at her, she was so awed by how Emma loved her.

Emma was content with hand kisses and fingers intertwined, and Regina had liked to trace patterns on her palm, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want more, didn’t crave more.

She was a physical person, and was fairly sure Regina was too, but she didn’t understand the hesitance. But she wasn’t an asshole, she’d wait for Regina to make the move and push for more, and if she never did, well, Emma had a drawer back home that could see to her physical desires. Regina fit everything else.

Still, her daydreams had taken more… carnal turns of late, and she was able to call several memories of Regina that made her certain that she and the mayor could set the world on fire with their passion.

“Behave,” Emma croaked, recalling a fantasy she may or may not have had about the sheriff and the naughty mayor years ago when she’d first come to town. It had been like this.

Regina’s seductive smile turned fond as she rolled her eyes. They shared a long look and Regina blinked, breaking their connection and Emma felt warmth bloom in her chest.

“You’re no fun,” Regina said and sashayed over to a chair, lighting the fireplace with a flick of her wrist and sitting regally. Emma’s eyes drooped to her hips as she walked and she felt her face heat.

Regina’s smile was satisfied as she turned her head to the fire, effectively ignoring the rest of them.

“So… you’re all up to speed?” Emma asked Snow and while her mother looked shaken, there was a familiar glint in her eyes.

“Yes… As hard to believe as it is… she took her heart out to prove it.”

“What?!” Emma spun back to Regina by the fire who waved a hand in dismissal, waving off her concern. It didn’t work.

“Why would you do that?!” And then she spun back to her parents, who were wide-eyed, either at Emma’s response, or in David’s case, that Regina had removed her heart.

“To prove a point,” Regina commented dryly from the fire and Emma shot her a dirty look which she pointedly ignored.

“Ignoring that, Snow believes me now,” Regina said and finally turned her head.

“She’d like to help us get home.”

Emma spun back to her parents, eyes wide. “You will?”

Her mother took a steadying breath and her eyes went glassy. “Of course, Honey. This isn’t your home, we’d like to help if we can.” And this, this was why Snow was beloved by so many. Anything she could do to help, she would.

“Just… can you give us a few days before you go?”

Emma shrugged and looked to Regina, who had her head turned from the conversation, but Emma knew she’d be listening.

“I don’t even know how we are getting home, Mum,” but seeing the plea in her mother’s doe eyes, she nodded her agreement.

“Of course, we’ll let you know before we leave.”

Both of her parents sighed in relief.

Her heart warmed. They loved her, in any realm, they loved her. It was humbling to be loved so much after growing up without freely given love… a trait she and Regina shared.

She cast a glance at her True Love. It made her heart summersault to even think about it, to think about the burst of colour that had rippled across the land, a testament to their love. It had been a long time coming and looking back on it, she could see how they fell in love according to the stories, at least. Big, grand gestures of love and sacrifice, but Emma couldn’t pinpoint a direct time when she realised she was in love with Regina. It crept up on her until it was all she could think about…

Of course they were in love. It made the most sense. The universe righting itself. She was in love with Regina, and Regina was in love with her. She let out a happy sigh. They really needed to talk, and to talk properly about them, more than Henry, her parents and getting home. She and Regina, her True Love (and no, she wasn’t sick of it yet, didn’t think she’d ever be) needed to sit down and talk, woman to woman, True Love to True Love.

As much as she appreciated Regina’s respect for her, and she did, she really did, she would just… she would really like to kiss her again, but Regina was being so ridiculously proper that Emma’s libido was going a little crazy.

Regina couldn’t say such sweet things, look at her so softly, touch her so gently, and not expect Emma to want to jump her bones.

She was all about respect and consent, but she’d tasted Regina’s lips once, and she was desperate to taste them again, but Regina was almost distant with it.

Eyes narrowing in on her True Love, Emma didn’t see her parents have a silent conversation.

“I’ll go and talk to the people,” David said, as though something had been discussed and they both rose, sharing a sickening sweet glance that made Emma wonder if she and Regina were like that.

Regina was still eying the fireplace, the picture of nonchalance, but Emma knew it was false. Regina’s back was straight, and her fingers were curled over the chair, so ‘relaxed’ it was clear that they weren’t.

“I’ll see you at breakfast?”

Emma gave a little nod as her father walked over to her and kissed her head, arms lingering a moment, and then he was off, likely to assure their people that the King and Queen were still alive, and that the Evil Queen wasn’t a threat anymore. Emma didn’t envy him.

Snow was staring at them both for a long moment and then she rose to her feet. “Come with me,” she ordered and walked past Emma. Emma watched her go, glancing back at Regina and then at her mothers back.

“Both of you,” Snow said and opened the door.

Regina lifted her eyes, looked to Emma, and then rose gracefully from her seat. For a moment, her curves were highlighted by the flames behind her, her silhouette a shadow against the amber and gold of the fire, and Emma’s heart twirled.

She smiled winningly at Regina and the brunette’s eyes softened into a gentle flame, and heat swirled in Emma’s chest.

“Your Majesty,” she teased and held her arm out. Regina’s brow quirked and then she was sliding her arm into Emma’s, and Emma couldn’t help but straighten proudly.

The incredible and complicated creature next to her loved her, loved her enough to break a curse. The thought brought a smile to her lips, and she couldn’t fight it as they exited her parents’ quarters, swept by the startled guard, who stumbled away from Regina, and followed the queen down the corridor. Servants and guards alike froze when they passed, wide eyes on Regina… and the way Emma curled into her thoroughly content.

As much as she’d love the kissing to go past cheek or hand kisses, this was just as good. Being close to Regina, falling into her orbit, was like a drug. She craved more. More contact. More history. More memories that they’d create together. She just wanted all of it.

They walked down the hall to a corridor Emma didn’t visit very often, and she recognised it as being the one that held the guest that her parents had brought in shortly after Regina’s arrival.

What was going on? She wondered and shared a glance with Regina.

One of the Dwarves, Doc, was sitting on the bench, a book in his hand and a candle lighting the corner. A locked door was next to his bench, and he glanced up when they approached, smiling at Snow, and then his gaze slid past her to Emma and then halted on Regina.

He froze.

“It's fine, Doc,” Snow was quick to reassure him as he lurched to his feet, eyes wide in horror.

Emma tilted her head to nudge Regina’s as they walked, silently providing comfort even though Regina’s reputation was a warranted one.

Regina pressed back a moment, thanking her for her support.

“Regina is Regis,” Emma said, unable to stop the somewhat dopey smile on her face as she looked at her True Love. She really needed to figure out if they were girlfriends now, or maybe partners, because the term girlfriends seemed juvenile and the woman next to her wasn’t girlfriend material, she was a soulmate, a True Love, eternally together. Though there was that teeny, tiny issue of a soon to be ex-boyfriend back in Storybrooke. Maybe that was the source of Regina’s reluctance. She could at least have said something.

Doc was gaping at them both and Emma grinned at him broadly. “She woke me with a True Love's Kiss, isn’t that wonderful?”

The dwarf was speechless, and Snow shot Emma a slightly scolding look, while Regina gave her a little pinch, and she responded by turning and pressing a quick kiss to Regina’s cheek.

Regina’s cheeks went red, and she avoided her eyes, but there was a pleased smile curling her lips and Emma was smug again as she looked back at Doc.

“Let us in, please… And there won’t be any need for a guard anymore,” Snow said, and the dwarf hesitated a moment before reaching for his chest and lifting a great key over his head.

Regina and Emma looked at each other puzzled, but didn’t comment, figuring they’d get answers soon enough.

Snow unlocked the door, and paused before opening it, giving Regina an odd look, before shaking her head and pushing it open.

The room was lavish, as appropriate for guest quarters, but it was also sparse. No expense was spared on the table and chairs, the bed, the tapestries, and rugs, but that was all there was to the room. Nothing all that personal, just a few books and a writing desk, with an old man leaning over it.

“Is it that time already,” he murmured, leaning close to his parchment with the light of a candle to guide his words.

A strangled sound split Regina’s lips and Emma took a hesitant step forward, glancing to her love and then back at the man, ready to get between them if she needed to.

Snow stepped to the side as Regina nearly swooned in Emma’s arms, and she let out a broken, “Daddy?”

The man tensed and spun, fast for his age, knocking his ink well aside and spilling it over the desk, but his eyes were on his…his daughter .

Prince Henry gaped a moment and then Emma was releasing Regina as she stumbled towards her father, eyes already wet and a whimper rising in her throat.

He pushed out from his seat, the shock fading into wonder and hope and love, and father and daughter collided, and Regina slowly sank to the floor in her father’s embrace.

Emma just stared, heart thumping and then she was unable to halt the smile spreading across her face. Of course, even in a world she had created, she wanted Regina to be as happy as possible, to have as many people love her as possible. Of course her father was, somehow, alive in this realm.

Regina was crying softly, though, Regina never wept openly, and Emma’s heart mourned a girl who had learnt how to hide her pain so well, and Henry, she’d have to call him Henry Sr., was soothing her with tears of his own.

A presence at Emma’s side made her glance at her mother, who’s apprehension had faded into genuine happiness at the reunion.

“Let’s leave them to it,” she suggested gently, and though Emma didn’t want to leave Regina, she understood that the two had a lot to discuss, and she didn’t want to draw Regina’s attention from her father.

“I’ll see you later, Regina,” she whispered gently, and Regina’s hand came up in acknowledgement, before it clutched at her father’s clothes.

Henry Sr. lifted his head and mouthed a ‘thank you’ at them both and then returned his gaze to his daughter, speaking to her softly in a language Emma had never heard before.

“Come on,” Snow’s pressure was gentle on her dress, but dragged her away.

The door shut softly behind mother and daughter, leaving father and daughter.

“How long has he been here?” She asked her mother and then she shook her head. He was the guest that her parents had moved into the castle shortly after Regina’s arrival. It made sense now.

“I wonder if he’ll come home with us,” she mused, mostly to herself, but thought her mother might have some insight.

Snow wasn’t sure, and Emma had a feeling she still wasn’t convinced of Emma’s tale, or at least not all of it. But even if she wasn’t, she wanted to know everything about the daughter she’d given up, and so, after changing from their ball clothes, Emma sat down with her parents, son, Red, Granny, and a few interested dwarves, and told them all about herself.

Henry didn’t believe any of it, but appreciated the tales, nonetheless. She knew he thought the Evil Queen had cast a spell on her, and Emma had to summon her own fireball to prove she was a relatively competent witch. Regina was her mentor, so it made sense for her to think of Regina when she used her magic, and now with untampered love flowing through her body, it was easy enough to summon the ball of power.

She appreciated the awe they showed her when she took a moment to showcase her skills, ‘it's nothing like what Regina can do, but I’m getting there,’ she said, as ever, proud of her mentor.

‘We know well what the Evil Queen is capable of,’ Grumpy growled at her and she frowned at him.

‘Don’t call her that,’ Emma snapped, eyes narrowing.

‘I know you all have your history with her, and so do I, but she’s changed and I. Love. Her… so if you have any love for me, you’ll respect her.’

Her parents and their advisors hadn’t quite known what to say to that, and instead her father had asked to learn more about her life and Storybrooke. Emma was happy to fill in the blanks.

‘You know those stories Regis-er, Regina, was telling us about the Mayor and the Sheriff? Well, it's us… I’m the Sheriff, and she’s the Mayor…’ and then she had to explain who Killian was to her, and why she’d let her entire family go to the Underworld for him, and had to explain how she slowly, ever so slowly, fell in love with Regina.

It took most of the night, and Henry was yawning by the time Emma’s throat was dry from speaking and Snow had sent them all to bed, to reconvene in the morning.

Regina still hadn’t returned, and Emma suspected she was still with her father, and she didn’t begrudge her that… but that didn’t mean the bed was warm without her. It took her hours to fall asleep, and when she did, it was to nightmares of that burning room, and being alone and unloved, an orphan.

So she was relieved when dawn finally crept over the horizon and she could toss aside her covers and rise. She spent a moment reheating her bathwater using a fireball, oddly proud of herself and wanting to share that with Regina, but she still hadn’t seen her since the night before. But that was okay, she reasoned as she took a quick bath and then dressed herself, picking the pants she’d had tailored and a simple green tunic to bring out her eyes.

She brushed her hair back, washed and dried her face, and was then ready for the day before the sun had even properly risen. It wasn’t her fault that she was tired and yet restless. She was itching to get home, back to Storybrooke, even though she knew what was waiting for her there.

She had a feeling that with Regina by her side she could do anything, and she was smiling giddily to herself when there was a knock on the door.

Wary, because she hadn’t had the best of luck lately, she wandered to the door and called through it quietly, “Yes?”

“It’s me.”

Regina.

Emma instantly opened the door and gazed at her True Love.

There was a candlelight above the door so that Emma could see who had come to see her, not that it would matter all that much because soon the sun would be up, but the firelight cast Regina’s features into amber. The shadow of them darkened, highlighting the lines of her face and she looked tired but happy, so, so happy.

Emma leant against the door frame and folded her arms.

A few steps away, Emma’s guards were hesitant with Regina, hands on sword-hilts, and Emma rolled her eyes, waving them off.

“Regina is fine,” she said, a little crossly, because she hadn’t slept well, and she would not tolerate anyone disrespecting Regina.

“She is to be let in whenever she comes to see me,” Emma ordered, and it was then that she noticed Regina was carrying a basket. Her stomach growled.

“You’re my favourite,” she grinned, leaning forward as though she might see into the basket.

“Me or the food,” Regina asked dryly, and Emma stepped aside with a smirk, letting Regina into the room.

“You, of course… The food is a close second…. Do you have coffee?” She asked, almost desperately.

Regina hummed as she walked over to the table and placed her basket down, and Emma shut the door to keep prying eyes away.

It wasn’t like the guards hadn’t let Regis into her rooms after the Curse broke, and he was a man, but obviously the Evil Queen had ill intentions.

Scowling slightly, she brightened immediately when Regina held out a steaming cup of something familiar and she groaned.

“Oh, caffeine, how I have missed you!”

“It wasn’t as though you were up at the crack of dawn everyday, Miss Swan,” Regina drawled as she started to set the table and Emma beamed at her, happy now that she had Regina’s company and coffee.

“Being a princess is very taxing,” she said seriously, savouring the coffee.

She heard Regina’s eyeroll and grinned at her.

Breakfast was a series of sausages, bacon, some breads, cereals, and some fruit with some juice, though she had her coffee now, and- “Is that a bear-claw?!”

She dove on the sweet treat, ignoring the cereals and meats and fruits offered.

Regina sat gracefully and took an apple, cutting it delicately and slipping a piece into her mouth using her knife. Emma couldn’t help but stare at her, munching on her bear-claw. It was as good as she remembered it being, warm too. Had Regina made it for her? Or had she gone to the bakery in Snow’s Rest and brought it for her? She had a feeling that the bakery had never made them before so Regina must have told them about it when she first arrived.

The thought warmed her heart. Regina was missing her and had gone for her favourite treat as comfort. Her heart expanded as she gazed at Regina.

The sunrise was streaming in through the windows and the room was lit with amber and gold as the grey of the morning turned to colour. It cast Regina in orange and red, made her glow, and Emma was struck, and not for the first time, by her beauty.

She’d like to kiss her. She ached with it.

“You’re staring, Miss Swan,” Regina didn’t even turn to look at her and Emma’s smile pulled across her lips as she took another sip of coffee.

“I can’t seem to stop,” she said, and Regina’s cheeks darkened, and Emma moved to sit on the seat next to Regina, who startled slightly at her close proximity and then relaxed.

“How’s your father?” She asked gently, taking a glorious bite of her bear claw and an achingly soft expression appeared on Regina’s face.

“Good,” she replied softly. “Really good. We talked for most of the night, and I caught him up to date on things… he’d like to come home with us, if that’s okay?” Regina was hesitant at the end, glancing at Emma through her lashes and Emma nodded hurriedly.

As if she’d ever deny Regina anything, as if she ever could, and certainly not something that made the woman she loved look so bright and soft and warm.

Finishing her bear-claw and wiping her hand on her trousers, she reached across and touched Regina’s wrist, sliding her hand up until she could interlink their fingers.

A torn expression chased wonder across Regina’s face, before it settled into something warm at her touch.

“Of course, he can come with us! We just… have to figure out how we’re getting home… You don’t have any more ideas, do you?” She asked rather desperately.

Once Emma had been awoken from the curse, and the mess with Callahan had been sorted out, she and Regina had talked about what Regina had been doing while she tried to wake Emma up, and the options she’d come up with.

Which was pretty much nothing. Short of releasing Rumple, which they both agreed was a terrible idea, Wish-Realm or not, they didn’t know how to get home. If they found a magic bean, it wouldn’t be a problem, and she’d ask her parents to put the word out. The King and Queen had more reach than Regina did, so maybe they’d have some luck there.

“We won’t leave him behind… Or your horse, if you want,” Emma added and saw some of the tension leave Regina’s shoulders. With hesitant fingers, certain Regina would move or convey her disapproval if it wasn’t okay, she trailed them up Regina’s wrist, and then lifted them to her cheek.

Regina’s hair was long, and obviously needed to be retrained from her time as Regis, for locks of it were falling forward to frame her face, and Emma gently tucked some of it behind her ear.

Regina’s breath caught and she went still, eyes darting to Emma’s face and being caught there.

With a gentle touch Emma slid her hand around to the back of Regina’s neck, stroking the small hairs there and leant in.

Regina was still, rigid almost and Emma hesitated, Regina’s breath ghosting across her lips but the queen wasn’t moving. It could have been worse, Regina could have been pulling away, but she wasn’t leaning forward. Emma pulled back slightly, a frown creasing her brow.

“What’s wrong?”

Regina’s eyes darted away and she visibly hesitated and then there was a knock at the door, and it opened. Both sets of eyes darted to the entrance and Regina pulled away. Emma let her go, confused and a little hurt, and frustrated at the interruption.

“Yes?” She asked, somewhat irritably of the servant who stood wide-eyed in the doorway, eyes darting between Regina and Emma and what she had interrupted.

“Their Majesties request your presence in the Great Hall for breakfast,” she said so quickly her words almost blurred into one. She was quick to bow and back out the door, and Regina rose regally to her feet, clearing the table with a wave of her hand.

They’d made their way through the hall and to the Great Hall.

Emma had sensed Regina was nervous, and tried to hug her, but Regina had stepped back, and Emma had to pretend that the rejection hadn’t flared sharply in her chest, but Regina had glanced over Emma’s shoulder at the guards and the hall, and hesitance had flared in her eyes.

Still, Emma wasn’t about to go in there by herself, and so she linked her arm with Regina’s and with confidence she wasn’t feeling, escorted them into the Great Hall.

The sounds of the meal went instantly silent at their arrival, the weight of a hundred eyes watching them walk towards the high table.

Her parents and son were there, and watched them approach, greetings were exchanged in the silent room, and then they sat down. Emma began picking at her meal, feeling the eyes on her but being unable to do anything about it because of her social position.

She was glad she’d finished her coffee before they’d come here, pleased that Regina had been so thoughtful to bring her breakfast, but also frustrated that her parents had summoned her like a dog. It was how things were done, though. She knew her parents were trying their best to handle Regina sitting on Emma’s side, a hand under the table doing god knows what, currently the only thing keeping Emma from bolting from this awkward affair.

A servant was hovering to refill their dishes and served Regina, but something about her caught Emma’s eye.

She reached for Regina’s juice, knocking her hand out of the way and taking it. Regina’s dark eyes flashed before softening and then she tilted her head in question. Emma brought the mug to her lips and Regina’s hand latched onto her arm; eyes narrowed in warning.

There was a strangled sound off in the corner and Emma sighed, fury igniting in her bloodstream. Emma lowered the cup without taking a sip and turned her head to look for the servant, ignoring how Regina’s hand tightened.

“You, come here,” she ordered, catching sight of the servant, who paled but scurried forward at the royal command.

Regina was trying to speak to Emma using her eyes, but Emma was ignoring it. Part of her was mutinous, now Regina wanted to meet her eyes? But the other part was angry, angry Regina didn’t think someone poisoning her drink was worth mentioning.

If she’d guessed correctly, and she probably had by how pale the servant had gotten, then she’d tried to poison Regina, and Regina knew about it and was willing to let it slide. Emma wasn’t.

The silence in the hall fell even quieter and Emma knew everyone was looking at her, but with fire in her blood, she didn’t care. This girl had tried to harm Regina.

“Drink,” she ordered, thrusting the cup at the maid, who went even paler, and Emma’s eyes narrowed.

“Your Highness,” the servant wet her lips and stammered, bowing low. “It wouldn’t be proper of me,” she replied, voice high-pitched and painfully fake.

“It's improper to ignore a direct order,” Emma offered in rebuttal, fury beating in her chest.

“Now drink,” she said with a pointed press of the mug against the girl’s chest. She faltered.

“Emma,” Regina finally spoke, voice quiet and soft.

The lines around her eyes were tight, the depths of them dark and sombre. “Do you think a mere poisoning can bring me down?” She asked wryly, and beyond David, her mother gasped. The servant went ashen and was shaking now.

“You are a guest at this table,” Emma told her softly, recalling her time as Princess Emma with ease, and coupled with her desire to always protect Regina, well, the servant was in for a surprise.

“Even if you razed her village...”

“- I may have,” Regina interrupted softly. Emma’s brow creased.

“-- former enemy or not,” Emma said firmly, reaching out to touch Regina, only for her to recoil slightly, eyes darting around the room, lingering over her shoulder, before settling back on Emma. The rejection stung, more than she’d like to admit. A conflicted mix of emotion crossed Regina’s face before she soothed it into a mask.

“If any harm comes to you while you are here…” she trailed off, chest burning with it, with how Regina was willing to let the woman poison her, just to, what, stop the very scene that was about to happen?

“I want to keep you safe. And if someone harms you, or tries to--,” she amended, seeing Regina’s eyes flash, “then I want to know about it and take care of it.”

Their gazes held for a moment and then Regina was sighing, ducking her head slightly in a ‘as you wish’ motion and Emma was a little bit smug as she turned to the servant, and her pleasure at having Regina’s full attention faded.

“Now. I sincerely hope that you, a servant of our table, didn’t poison anything served here.”

“Of course not, Your Highness.”

Even if Emma wasn’t looking for the lie, it was obvious.

“Then drink,” she lifted it to the servant's mouth pointedly and the girl’s lips pressed together.

“That’s what I thought,” Emma said, pulling the cup away and setting it back on the table.

“Guards!” She called sharply and Regina put a hand on her arm and gave a slight shake of her head.

“Emma…”

“I’m not going to allow her to try to kill you and get away with it,” Emma said fiercely, and the servant swallowed audibly. The guards, who had been numerous and spaced out in the Great Hall, came running. Her parents stood.

“I have spells and enchantments that keep me from being poisoned… I cast them the moment I realised I was staying here… I was never in any danger,” Regina explained softly, hand warm on Emma’s arm.

“That doesn’t make it okay,” Emma whispered, looking at the hand on her arm before following it to Regina’s eyes, which were soft and glowed like the sunrise, before a veil came over them and she glanced away.

“I am too much of a temptation… I’ll go,” she said and gave Emma’s arm a squeeze as she rose.

“Regina, wait!” But purple smoke already took her True Love from her and she scowled at the place she’d vanished.

“Arrest her for attempted murder,” she informed the guards and pointed at the servant, who sneered at Emma.

“She isn’t a person, she’s a monster,” the servant said, eyes flashing and Emma slowly lifted her gaze to the woman.  

“You should be thanking me,” she hissed, “not stopping me. You’re a traitor.”

The guards grabbed her harshly and dragged her away, “You should be killing the Evil Queen, not opening your legs for her!” The woman shouted and there were gasps, either at her words or at how bold she was.

“You’re a traitor! To your kingdom, to your parents!”

Eventually her father had enough and his voice boomed in the hall. “Get her out of here!”

She was thankful but also feeling a little sick.

“Is that what you all think?” She asked, spinning to look at her parents. They exchanged glances.

“Honey-”

Her mother began and Emma cut her off with a laugh. “No, Mum, you don’t get to ‘honey’ me. I love her,” she emphasised, running a hand through her hair, and shrugging helplessly.

“Aren’t you meant to be happy for me? My entire life, Princess Emma’s entire life, you’ve preached about True Love and Happily Ever After, and now that I have it, why does it feel like I’m the only one happy about it?”

She might be a little frustrated, but Regina had been increasingly distant since the night before… since her conversation with Snow, actually.

Emma slowly lifted her eyes to her mother, ignoring the eyes on them. “What did you say to her?” She asked, broadening her shoulders, and leaning forward, heart hammering.

Regina as Regis, post-True Love's Kiss, had been openly affectionate, still proper, but accepting of Emma’s touches, and offering her own, but now she was Regina… She was distant and unsure, rejecting Emma’s touch.

The only thing that had happened, was that everyone knew Regis and Regina were the same… so something must have happened. Emma would bet it was her mother, and as Snow grimaced and looked guilty, Emma knew it was true.

“ What ,” she emphasised with a hiss, taking a partial step forward and hitting the chair. “Did you say?”

Snow’s expression contorted a moment and then she grimaced. “Not here,” she said and she turned and walked away, expecting Emma to follow.

Emma growled lowly but chased after her mother until they were in the hall, and then she grabbed her and spun her.

“What did you say, Mum?”

Snow looked a little guilty and then straightened under her gaze. “Nothing that wasn’t true.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed dangerously, she could feel her fury burning through her veins.

“What. Did. You. Say?”

And so her mother told her. Of how’d she’d been wary at first, but Regina had spoken impossible words turning into stories, until part of her had believed while the other rebelled against it.

She told her that Regina removed her own heart, hesitated a moment, and then handed it to Snow so that she could ask her the truth. When it was confirmed, Regina had taken her heart back, Snow frozen as she realised what Regina was saying.

She’d explained Storybrooke, how they came to be here, and what was waiting for them back home.

And then things got a little out of hand. Queen Snow wasn’t the Snow that had come to love Regina again, this one was still guarded, still thought she knew best, still wanted to know and to control the world around her. Regina, never able to back down from a challenge, had lashed back.

Snow struck her, claiming she didn’t deserve Emma after everything she did, that she didn’t deserve any iota of happiness and that karma would come for her. Of course, once she’d realised what she had said, then she’d promptly apologised, thoroughly chastened, and they’d spoken a little more of Regina’s past, and what was awaiting them. Then Regina, tired of the conversation, had teleported them back to the royals’ quarters.

Emma was horrified. Snow had struck where it had hurt, Regina’s insecurities about herself and love. The love she had for others, the love that few had for her, and the poetic justice that was surely to follow her and take those she loved. Emma knew that Regina thought of her love as a death sentence, and Snow had basically confirmed it for her, and it made Emma furious.

“How could you say that?!” She bellowed, anger curling in her chest and bursting outwards. It was hard for her to remember that this version of her mother didn't love Regina again, and hadn't seen how Regina had fought her way back to the light, had fought for their family.

“Do you know how hard it is for her to open up? To get her to trust me? How hard it must have been for her to stay and love me?” Emma snarled, knowing that Regina had stayed, let herself ‘pretend’ to fall in love with the woman she was already in love with, and risk her heart again.

“You aren’t hard to love, Emma,” her mother replied instantly, brow tight and features pinched. “While she might not be the Evil Queen anymore, it doesn’t take away what she has done, and what might become of anyone she chooses to care about.”

Emma just gaped, knowing that it was out of love for her that her mother was saying these things, but not accepting them on Regina’s behalf.

“She doesn’t love very well, she never has--”

“That’s because all the people who claimed to love her hurt her instead!”

Snow took a patient breath, letting it out in a manner that reminded Emma of a child, and she resented her mother for it. She wasn’t a child anymore, and her mother couldn’t control her with a twitch of her brow or a look in her eye.

“I know she claims to love you, but I just don’t know if I can believe that-”“

“So, you believe everything else, but the part where that amazing and complicated and beautiful and damaged woman, the mother of my son, loves me? Gee, thanks,” she drawled, fingers curling into claws at her sides.

Snow shook her head instantly. “It isn’t you, honey. It’s-- it's her. I don’t know if she’d be good for you… I don’t know if she’d be what you need. I want to believe in her, I truly do… but we’ve been tricked before and I don't want you to get hurt because of it.”

“You were basically willing to sell me to Regis, so why does it matter now? Regina is Regis! We broke a Sleeping Curse, for Christ’s sake! I love her!”

“The things she has--”

“I know what she’s done! I’m not blind or stupid! And I know her a hell of a lot better than you do! You spent, what, ten years with her and didn’t know what your own father was doing to her?”

Snow’s expression contorted as though she’d been slapped, a sharp inhale splitting her lips.

“You don’t know her,” Emma cried helplessly, throwing her hands up.

“You don’t love her like I do- and she loves me! All of me! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have broken the Curse!” Heart hammering Emma turned away and began to stalk through the halls.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my True Love to look at me,” she shot back over her shoulder, wishing for a moment that there was a door she could slam to let out her frustration.

Guided by instinct alone, probably magic, she stalked through the corridors towards her own room, fists clenched at her side and jaw tight.

She didn’t have her guards with her, she didn’t need them. She had magic, knew how to fight, and well, Regina was nearby if anything happened. She found them restricting in a way Princess Emma hadn’t. Emma liked her freedom… but she also knew she’d given that up to be loved, and she needed to work on that.

She knew her mother loved her, she did, but sometimes being around Snow with her endless optimism, it was hard. The world wasn’t how her mother always saw it, and she was often so self-righteous about her worldviews that getting through to her was like scaling the Eiffel Tower without ropes. Almost impossible.

Reaching her door, she wrenched it open and stormed in, only to pause.

Regina was in her room, sitting out on the balcony, staring into the distance. Drawn forward, Emma walked across her room and to the balcony.

Regina didn’t say anything, but Emma knew she’d noticed her presence. Then again, Emma had always known when Regina was about. The room felt different, fuller… and empty when Regina wasn’t around. Shaking her head at how foolish she had once been, because now she realised she was in love with Regina, she was able to see it all properly. The signs were there, but Emma wasn’t always the brightest and self-aware of Saviours.

After a long moment of silence, just enjoying Regina’s company and presence- and maybe watching the wind toy slightly with her hair in a way that Emma ached to do, but Regina’s little rejections had found root in her heart and she was afraid of another one until they’d talked, so she finally spoke.

“I chose Regis,” she said quietly, glancing at Regina from the corner of her eye.

“I fell in love with him. He showed me things, taught me things, he was patient and kind and gentle and funny.. and didn’t hesitate to stand up for what he believed in… but our kiss wouldn’t have worked if I didn’t love Regina, too.”

Regina stiffened, posture rigid and her jaw tightened, but she didn’t look at Emma.

“I told you, I love you, all of you… and I choose you… if you’ll choose me too,” she tucked some hair behind her ear, aware she was being vulnerable by the pounding in her chest.

“Mum told me what she said, and well, it's bullshit. You aren’t that person anymore, you’re Regina… and I’m Emma… I don’t want that to taint us moving forward… and I know we need to talk, properly talk about us,” she said, waving her hand between them both.

“But, I love you. That isn’t going to change… and I know you love me. Our pasts… Yeah, they might have been shitty, but they made us who we are and, well, I kinda like you the way you are…”

Regina swallowed and her jaw worked before she eventually offered a counter argument, “I’m the reason you grew up alone, Miss Swan.”

“You didn’t stick me in that wardrobe,” Emma spat back, still bitter towards her parents for it, even though the pain of it had faded. Still, it sucked to know how her life would have been if they hadn’t. She wasn’t Princess Emma, she was Emma, and her pain and struggles shaped her, just like the woman in front of her.

“But I was the reason they had to,” and Regina’s voice cracked a little, emotion pouring from her and Emma hated how vulnerable and broken she looked, brows creased, eyes wet and sombre. She just wanted to hold her, to take her someplace and just be together with none of their history, none of the Saviour bullshit of a Destiny, none of Regina’s pain and suffering, where they could just be Emma and Regina.

“They made their decision,” Emma said, the heat leaving her at Regina’s heartbroken confession.

“Just like August left me, and the foster families didn’t want me, and-- and Neal, you didn’t make them do anything.”

“But I’m the reason they put you in a wardrobe and shipped you off to Maine... alone …”

She hadn’t quite realised how much remorse Regina felt over the decision, of the pain her actions had caused, especially to someone she’d come to care for, and care for a great deal.

But they existed for each other, didn’t they? And if that wasn’t fate, then Emma didn’t know what could ever be.

Emma, as she was, existed because of Regina…. Who existed as she was now, the beautiful and complicated, guilty and strong, stubborn and gentle, broken and fierce woman she was now, because Emma had helped her get there… Emma had helped, through Henry but with her own presence, bring Regina back to the light, and Regina was the reason Emma had been placed in a wardrobe and--

The wardrobe .

“God, I love you,” she said, an idea taking form and Regina froze, before softening completely like she did whenever someone showed her love and affection, or when Emma said those words.

She lurched forward as Regina’s expression cleared, still not willing to let go of her own guilt, but Emma took Regina’s head in both hands and pressed a firm kiss to her lips.

“You’re a genius!”

She pulled back, and then, because she’d missed Regina (and her lips) she kissed her again, gentler this time and Regina softened into the kiss, arms coming around her.

“I chose Regis, just like I choose Regina… and I’d really like you to choose me, too… So how about we both beat fate?” She added, knowing she was cheating slightly by using Regina’s own words against her, but needing her to know that Emma was here, and she wasn’t going anywhere.

Regina closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and pressed their foreheads together. Something in Emma settled at the reassurance in the gesture, at Regina opening herself to Emma’s love and affection, agreeing to let it in, even if she didn’t think she deserved it.

“You are second only to Henry, Emma. It’s always been you.”

Regina’s words danced through her ribs in ribbons of light, curling in the centre and exploding outwards. Regina loved her, which she already knew, but it was always wonderful to be assured of it.

“I can’t promise I won’t get…distant, especially when we get home, but I’ll try. For you.”

Emma kissed her forehead. “I love you… but I really have to go and talk to a guy about a tree,” she said with a wry grin, rising to her feet and Regina stood with her.

“You have an idea?”

Emma nodded. “My parents put me in a wardrobe to cross realms… maybe we can do the same.”

And she saw understanding in Regina’s eyes, before her lips curled into a slow and satisfied smile.

“Let’s go home, Emma,” she said and reached out to link their hands. Emma grinned, mirroring Regina’s happiness and intertwined their hands.

It would take some time, she knew, until Regina was confident in herself and their love that she would be so open and affectionate with the people they knew around them, but Emma was content to wait. She’d follow Regina anywhere, and waiting on her love wasn’t a burden. It was a privilege.

And now, a week later, they were in the middle of the woods with her parents and son, Regina’s father, and a grown-up Pinocchio.

She’d been saddened to learn of Geppetto’s passing, but knew it couldn’t be helped, and August was reassured his father was alive in the other realm.

He’d carved two intertwined trees into a door, large enough for the three of them, and Regina’s horse. It had been a labour of love, and the door was ornate and a testament to his craft. She could sense the innate magic in it, and knew it would be enough to get them home.

August was exhausted but satisfied with his work, and she had a feeling it brought him closer to his father in a way, and she was glad.

This world had been an experience, but she’d be glad to get home. She missed modern plumbing, and she really, really wanted her shavers, a really, really hot bath with bubbles, some music, and maybe some company, she mused as she looked at her true love. Just the thought made her giddy.

Regina had her palm out facing the door, eyes closed as she sensed the magic within, and she pulled away with a little nod.

Yes, the wardrobe would get them home. Emma was thrilled and turned around to beam at their departure party.

Prince Henry Sr. stood next to Regina’s horse, a pack of his belongings thrown over her back and his eyes were on Regina, as though he couldn’t believe she was here, that she was real. Emma understood the sentiment.

After their chat, Regina had returned to being affectionate. Still completely proper, but she would catch Emma’s gaze and hold her in it, and Emma felt warm and safe and seen , a way she wasn’t with anyone else.

They spent their nights together, doing little more than kissing (and if that were an indicator of how excellent they’d be when they finally made love, Emma was certain they’d move the moon again) but Emma had needed her close, the flames from her Curse haunting her. Regina woke her when the dreams crept in, and held her until she settled again, and Emma’s heart would feel fit to bursting each time she woke with Regina in her arms.

Whatever Emma had said to Regina had erased what Snow had brought to the surface, and while she was waiting for Regina to talk to her about it, she already suspected what was the root of it. Whenever Regina loved, she lost. Her love was a death sentence… And she loved Emma too much to try, which Emma thought was bullshit but the fact that Regina was trying meant that she loved Emma more than she was afraid of losing her.

It made Emma happy, giddy even, to know that Regina loved her so much that while she feared losing her, she wanted to treasure every moment they spent together. Emma wanted that too.

Sure, things might be hard when they got back to Storybrooke, Hook was still in the picture, and there was an Evil Queen to vanquish, and a robed figure with a sword, but she was confident she could handle it, and she smiled around at her family.

August stood near the tree, exhausted but satisfied with his work, and the two Charming’s and Henry were watching from the other side.

They’d already said their teary goodbyes, though her mother still had wet eyes, and they were at peace with Emma’s decision, even if they didn’t want her to go.

“Are you ready?” Regina asked, staring up at the carved doors and hoping that this would work. They had been through a lot together, and she knew that whatever waited for them in Storybrooke, they’d get through that too.

“Let’s go home,” Emma agreed and intertwined their fingers, and Regina’s heart still cartwheeled whenever the blonde was open in her affection. She had a feeling Emma knew it too, for the Saviour’s lips twitched and she gazed at her knowingly.

Regina took a steadying breath and reached for the carved door handle with her unoccupied hand. She didn’t know what the future held, but she knew that she would fight for the one she envisioned. Her, Henry, her father, the Charming’s, the town and her sister. With Emma by her side, she was certain that she’d stand tall against any threat.

And they would face the future like they faced everything else… together.