8This story takes place several months after season 5. Canon to show, but Hooks never returns from the underworld and the events of the finale don't take place.
"I'll see you two later. Dinner was great," Henry said as he rinsed his plate and put it in the dish washer before grabbing his jacket.
"Where are you off to?" Regina asked.
"I'm going to the movies with Ava and Nicholas, remember?"
"I thought you were going out with them tomorrow?" Emma asked as she washed her own plate and glass.
"No, it's tonight."
"Well, have fun, and be back before eleven," Regina told him.
"I will. Bye, love you both," he called out as he left the house.
"He's growing up too fast," Regina stated as she watched him go, remembering when they used to go to the movies together when he was younger (even though there had been a very limited selection to choose from before the curse broke.)
"I know," Emma said. "But we still have a few years before he's an adult."
Regina sighed and nodded over that as she and Emma continued to clean up the dishes and put away the leftover food. She looked at Emma, thinking how the blond had been fairly quiet throughout dinner. "Is everything alright with you?"
"I'm fine," Emma said, though her voice didn't sound convincing. She dried a pan and put it away before saying to Regina, "It's just, I was cleaning out some stuff today and I found a bottle of Hook's rum."
"Oh," Regina simply said.
Normally Emma would hesitate in saying exactly why this bothered her, since she still wasn't entirely comfortable in fully opening up to others. But over the last few months she and Regina had talked and helped each other extensively over their loses. So if there was anyone who could identify with her about this, it would be Regina. "No, it's not what you think. When I saw it I expected to feel upset. But I wasn't, not really. And then when I realized that, I felt like I should be more bothered by it then I am. So I guess, I'm upset that I'm not upset if that makes any sense."
"I get what you mean," Regina said understandably. "When Robin first died I expected to be devastated. But compared to Daniel, it's taken much less time to accept his passing then I thought it would."
"You didn't curse everyone to a new land this time, so that's an improvement," Emma said jokingly, even though Regina glared at her over it.
"Eloquent as ever," Regina replied, though her annoyance went away as soon as it came. "The point is, I thought there was something wrong because I was able to get over it. But you made me realize it's natural to grieve from a loss and then move on. So I wouldn't feel guilty over it. As you said, Hook wanted you to move on and be happy."
Emma smiled as she looked at Regina, thinking about how much they had relied on one another over the last several months. It had been hard at first, but together they had managed to grieve and accept their loses, resulting in the two of them growing even closer to one another. As time went on Emma even began to think her feelings for Regina were moving beyond simple friendship. But she didn't know if Regina felt anything back, and didn't want to do something that would ruin their friendship. So she kept her feelings to herself, in order to keep what they had.
"What are you doing tonight?" Emma asked as they finished cleaning up.
"Curling up in my study with a good book. You?"
"Probably something similar. I'm going to Granny's for some hot chocolate first. Thanks again for dinner."
"You mean where you pretty much invited yourself over," she pointed out, even though by now it was common for Emma to come by and eat, to the point where Regina always made sure she made enough food for three people.
"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow."
Regina watched Emma leave, unconsciously taking in the swagger of her hips in her jeans and how her hair swayed as she left. For a while Regina had felt an attraction towards the blond, especially in the months since Hades had been destroyed. But whenever she even considered acting on her impulses something held her back. Part of it was the fear of losing Emma's friendship. But there was something else behind it, something she felt was best to just leave buried within her.
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"Thanks," Emma said as she paid for her to go cup of hot chocolate, just as the door to the back room of the diner swung open.
"Emma!"
Emma turned around, smiling brightly at seeing who was there. "Ruby!" She put her cup down as her friend rushed forward and hugged her. "I haven't seen you since the underworld."
"Yeah, let's hope we don't have to go back there anytime soon."
Emma pulled back and looked at the woman next to Rudy. "Hi. I'm Emma. And I'm going to take a guess and say you're Dorothy."
"That's right," she replied. "I met your mother when Ruby woke me from the sleeping curse."
"Right. I saw that in the story book. Are you two living here now?"
"We're just visiting for now," Ruby replied. "But I'm glad I ran into you. The reason we're here is to tell everyone that Dorothy and I are getting married."
"Really! Congratulations you two."
"Thanks. A bunch of us are going to the rabbit hole to celebrate. I'd love it if you came."
"Sure, I'd love to. Is it alright if I ask Regina to come?"
"Zelena's sister?" Dorothy asked warily.
"Yeah. But don't worry. She's not evil anymore."
"Don't worry, I can vouch for her," Ruby stated. "She can be standoffish at times, but she's not evil."
"If you say so," Dorothy said, deciding to trust Ruby and Emma's opinions over the stories she'd heard about the Evil Queen.
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"Regina, open up!" Emma yelled as she pounded on the door before using her spare key to let herself in.
"Can you not charge in here like a barbarian." Regina insisted as she came down to the foyer. "You're lucky I didn't throw a fireball at you."
"Come on, you knew it was me," Emma insisted. "Guess what. Ruby and Dorothy are here and they just got engaged."
"Really?" Regina replied, unable to keep a small smile from forming.
"Yeah. A bunch of us are going to the rabbit hole to celebrate. Sort of a girls night out thing. So get your coat and let's go."
"Thank you, but I'm going to pass."
"What? Come on, it'll be fun. My mom's going and there's always the chance she'll get drunk and do something embarrassing."
"As tempting as that would be to witness, I'm going to stay in. I'm tired and just want a relaxing night in," Regina replied.
Emma looked at Regina, realizing she wasn't going to change her mind. "Fine. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."
"Have a good time. Call me if you need a ride home."
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"Emma, you don't have to do this. You can quit at anytime," Ruby declared.
"I'm fiiiiinne," Emma slurred as she downed another shot. Once the ladies had gotten to the bar Ruby had gotten a tray of shots for the table. Emma jokingly remarked that she could drink all of them under the table, leading Rudy to state that she could drink more than any one of them. So Emma took that challenge, which led to the two of them currently trying to outdrink the other.
"Maybe you should slow down," Snow replied with motherly concern.
"I'm good. I've out drank plenty of people," Emma replied as she downed her seventh shot.
"I doubt any of them were a werewolf," Ruby stated as she took another shot, looking far better off than Emma was.
"To bad Regina couldn't come," Emma said as she picked up another shot glass. "She's a lot of fun when she wants to be." She put the glass down and took out her phone and started texting. "Hopefully she gets this. 'Regina," she said out loud as she typed. "Don't be a party pooper. Get down here and show us how fun you are'. And, send."
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"I'm not saying swords aren't good weapons, because they are. But a good archer can best a sword wielder in battle any day," Merida declared as she and Dorothy debated battle tactics.
"Magic!" Emma suddenly said. "Magic can beat anything. If Regina was here, she could take you all on!"
"Well lucky for us, she fights for our side now," Ruby stated.
"Yeah, she's great," Emma giggled.
Ruby looked at Emma, seeing over a dozen empty shot glasses surrounding her. "Okay, you're cut off for the night. I'm declaring you the winner."
Emma pumped her fist in the air over her victory before saying, "Regina's perdy,"
"Yes she is," Ruby replied matter of factly, trying not to laugh at Emma's drunken ramblings.
"She's really smart too. And she doesn't hide it. She doesn't dumb herself down when she's around others. She's like, 'I'm not going to hide that I'm smart.'"
"Yeah, she's-"
"She's a great friend. I know she's done some bad stuff, but all of us have done crazy shit. She shouldn't be punished her entire life. She deserves happiness."
"Okay, sit tight, I'm going to be right back," Ruby said. She mouthed to Dorothy to watch her before walking over to Snow, who had just come out of the bathroom. "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec."
"Sure, what's up?"
"How long has Emma been in love with Regina?"
"What?" Snow asked in shock. "Why would you think that?"
"Well for one thing, she's been talking about her nonstop all night. Going on about how smart and pretty she thinks Regina is, and how much she wants her to be happy. I've only be here for a night and I've noticed it. Please tell me you've noticed something before now?"
"I…" Snow trailed off as she looked at Emma. In truth she had noticed how close the two women had become over the last year or so, especially after their boyfriends both died. They had both helped each other through their pain and had grown closer because of it. But in love with one another? "I guess I've noticed something between them. But I didn't think it was…I didn't even know she was into women."
"I wasn't into women before I met Dorothy," Ruby stated as she glanced at her fiancé. "Now I can't imagine what it was like before I knew her. Maybe Emma isn't into women so much as being into one particular woman."
Snow took that in, thinking it over. She wasn't entirely sure she was 100% behind the idea of the two of them in a relationship. But she knew Regina was not the same person she once was, and she wanted her daughter to be happy. So if that meant Emma was in love with a woman who had tried to kill everyone, she'd learn to adjust.
Just then they saw Emma in a corner on her phone. "Everything okay?" Snow asked Dorothy as she and Ruby went over to the table.
"Emma was falling asleep and wanted to go home, so she's calling for a ride," Dorothy stated.
"She doesn't need a cab, I'll call David to get her," Snow said.
"I think she's calling Regina," Ruby said, able to hear Emma thanks to her werewolf hearing. She then blushed furiously as she heard exactly what Emma was saying.
"What?" Snow asked as she saw the look on Ruby's face.
"Nothing," Ruby quickly said. "Nothing at all."
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Regina yawned as she marked her place in her book. She left her study with the intention to start getting ready for bed, when she saw her cell phone lit up on the kitchen counter. She picked it up, seeing there was both a text and a message. She read the text, seeing it was from Emma a couple of hours ago. She smiled at what was written. She started to text the blond back when she decided to listen to her voicemail first. She saw it was left by Emma just a few minutes ago, and pressed play.
At first she laughed at the beginning of it. But as it went on her laughter died and was replaced with shock. Her eyes widened as she shifted in her seat, feeling both uncomfortable and very flattered by what she was hearing. As the message ended Regina sat there in shock, having just enough sense to save it to her phone.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She wasn't exactly a prude, but what she had just heard was beyond anything she could have imagined. Though she finally had her answer as to what Emma truly thought about her.
As she sat there, a plan started forming in her head on how to best use this information. She knew it was a bit mean spirited, and would be starting something she wasn't sure she was ready for. But the opportunity was just too good to pass up. She smiled as it came together, deciding to act before she changed her mind. First she called Henry, telling him it would be best if he went to his grandparents and stayed there for the night and the next day. Then she grabbed her jacket and keys and went out to fetch Emma.