#saumsherri

Granny’s had been unusually busy for the past several days, packed with holiday fools and festive idiots all trying to get their hands on a peppermint hot chocolate before delving back into the frigid Maine air. Everyone was loud and joyful, bumping into one another as if to transfer the holiday spirit the way one would transfer dermatitis, and slung across their arms were gift bags and wrapped boxes that undoubtedly held some kind of over-priced, plastic machine that would be shoved in some cupboard in two weeks time. Couples clung to one another like desperate leeches, and kissed under every poisonous mistletoe available.The whole scene was too chaotic to be pleasant and too pleasant to be peaceful; Regina was struggling to stomach the diner for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

“...will you please stop trying to murder your salad with that death glare? Is there something wrong with your rabbit food?” Zelena huffed, snapping the younger Mills woman out of her thoughts. Regina flicked her head up, fork still halfway to stabbing through an innocent tomato as she did.

“Nothing’s wrong! You’re...seeing things.” she accused.

“Then do explain why you look like you’re about to spontaneously combust. As much as I hate hearing you talk, sitting in silence with you is significantly worse.”

Regina narrowed her eyes again before averting her gaze back down to her slightly maimed salad. “It’s just...busy in here. I don’t like large crowds.” Hypocritically, instead of trying to ignore the mass swarms of people, her eyes drifted over to the lot and observed a particularly sickening couple by the doorway. The man had just draped his own coat over the lady’s shoulders, snuggling her tight before stealing a childish kiss from beneath the mistletoe. Regina’s eyes had narrowed instinctively at the sight of it, leaving Zelena to cluck her tongue irritatingly from across the table.

“Aww, does someone have a case of the holiday blues?” she cooed, pouting for her younger sister when the brunette turned back with a snarl, “It’s alright, sis. Not everyone can be cutesy and cuddly during this season.”

“Since when are you an expert on holiday customs for couples?” Regina said sharply, “Last I checked, you spent most of your would-be Christmas season cooped up in some impoverished community in Oz.”

Zelena’s nose crinkled with indignity. “There’s no reason to be rude. I was simply pointing out the obvious. You’re like...a lonely little elf, stuck all by yourself in the snow, with no one to hold you or offer you warmth or fetch you a drink or--”

“I get it. I don’t have a Christmas beau.” Regina growled. Her poor salad was thoroughly impaled by this point. “Who said I wanted one anyways?”

“Come on, Regina. No one wants to be alone on the holidays.”

“Who said I was alone? I have Henry--”

“To do what with, again? Not kiss under a mistletoe, I hope. You do realize it’s perfectly fine to admit that you’d rather not be lonely on Christmas?”

Regina rolled her eyes, thoroughly unimpressed by Zelena’s small proddings. But as she looked back off into the diner, it was painfully clear that everyone else had someone to spend the bitter winter nights with.

Strangers crowded by the jukebox, swaying gently to the music with hands on hips and shoulders. Hot chocolate kisses were being stolen between Leroy and Astrid amid whipped cream-capped noses, Aurora seemed to be half tangled and giggling in the scarf Mulan had wrapped around them both, and from behind the counter it seemed that Ruby was carefully helping Belle to garnish another gingerbread house for the Christmas display. All of them seemed to be beaming with a kind of joy Regina had not felt for quite some time. The holidays had always been special for her, but not that kind of special.

Loathe as she was to admit it, Zelena was right. She had no love to share her holiday with.

Her face must have fallen part way through her silent observations, given that Zelena seemed to be showering her with that fake look of concern when the Mayor glanced back at her.

“What?” she snapped.

“You look distressed! Clearly you’ve come to the proper realization that you don’t--”

“Saying it again isn’t going to help, witch. Yes, I get it. I don’t have some kind of Christmas romance, is that such a crime?”

Once again, Zelena’s face scrunched and she leaned back in her chair, looking utterly unimpressed. “Well, you’re boring. This is supposed to be the part where you ask for your older sister’s advice in how to find the perfect match for your holiday heartache!”

Regina slumped with unamusement. “And where did you get that notion from?”

“Henry showed me the Christmas movies on the telly, they always go like that. Clearly, you need some drastic assistance in your seasonal ventures; aren’t you so lucky I’m here to help? Now, let’s see...other than shriveled up old kings, what would my lonely little sister be vying for...blondes, perhaps?”

Having filled up on her distaste for the conversation, the younger sibling huffed loudly before hoisting herself up out of the booth. She didn’t need to hear any more of this nonsense; Zelena didn’t know a damn thing about Christmas, other than maybe how to sing some of the cliche holiday tunes. Who was she to be giving the Mayor any kind of advice? “While I would tell you I appreciate the help, that would be lying, and I don’t believe in trying to be any more deceitful than usual this time of year. Take your couples counseling elsewhere; I’m perfectly fine spending Christmas with my family, and not some handsy one shot from a street corner.”

That’s when she had planned on walking away, showing Zelena exactly who was in charge of her Christmas spirit by marching straight out the door without so much as a second glance at that mistletoe. But when she turned on her heel to make the exit, she found herself toe to toe with a bumbling blonde sheriff and her filled-to-the-brim mug of hot chocolate. Thank the stars she stopped herself short enough not to let the frothy substance dump all over her shirt.

“Oh, shit!” Emma gasped, throwing a hand up to shield the Mayor from the brief sloshing of her treat. A bit of whipped cream smeared across her finger, and after successfully licking it off without any attempt at discretion, she smiled bashfully at the brunette. “Hey, Regina.”

“...Emma.” The former Queen replied curtly, offering a tight smile in response and ignoring the little flutter of her heart, “Taking your lunch break, I suppose?” Her heart still hadn’t calmed-- must be indigestion.

“Yeah. David sent me out for grilled cheese and some drinks...I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place so busy though. Does this happen every year?”

Regina shrugged, pulling on her coat. “It’s warm in here, cold outside. More or less the diner is just decent shelter for people with frostbite. I...hope it serves you well.”

Emma seemed slightly disappointed by the response, as if she had hoped to engage in a longer conversation. “Oh. You heading out?”

“Yes, I really should be. I still have gifts to wrap before Friday, and I’d hate for Henry to have unsurprising surprises.” She shifted for a moment, seeming almost uncomfortable. Emma had not attempted to undo their accidental proximity to one another, remaining an obstacle in her path as she motioned towards the door, “I’ll...see you later this week.”

“...uh, yeah. See you th--”

The perfectly normal goodbye was promptly ruined when Emma’s arm suddenly lurched forward, taking the mountain of whipped cream and hot chocolate underneath and depositing it all over Regina’s shirt. A shriek split the Mayor’s lips as she staggered back, hands hovering around her chest as if she’d just been shot. Emma looked equally as astounded, as if she hadn’t meant to empty the contents of her mug all over Regina’s top.

“Oh...oh my god...Regina...I am so...so sorry…” she babbled, reaching immediately for a fistful of napkins before thrusting them against Regina’s chest. The brunette could do nothing but squawk with indignity as Storybrooke’s Savior began to grope at her chest, anger still burning like freshly heated coal in her eyes.

“Miss Swan, if you don’t get your hands off m--”

“Oh no. What a pity.” Zelena murmured, interrupting the moment with one of her signature looks of false concern, “All over your nice white blouse, Regina. That’s certainly going to leave a nasty stain…”

Regina’s eyes widened in realization. That cup of hot chocolate had obviously spilled without reason, but the culprit behind the mess was not Emma. “Why, you little bi--”

“Uh, Regina?” Apparently, it was Emma’s turn to interrupt her that time, “I’ve got a spare overcoat in my car...you want to put that on until you get home?”

“...thank you, Miss Swan, but that won’t be neces--”

“She would love to.”

Working on a swivel, the former Queen whipped her head back around to face her sister. Confusion and shock had mingled on her features to give her quite a lovely scowl, but Emma was already pulling out her car keys before giving Regina any actual time to protest.

“Sweet. Just...follow me. I parked close, I promise.” she assured with a smile. Regina merely clenched her eyes shut with a sigh and followed the blonde towards the door without another word, knowing that anything she said could and would be used against her by her godawful sibling. It was for the best if she just accepted the stupid coat without a fight.

“So...Zelena giving you a hard time about something?” Emma asked nonchalantly, watching Regina secure the bulky overcoat onto her shoulders. It looked completely out of place on the mayor’s small frame, but she seemed to be wrapping herself in it nevertheless.

“...oh, the usual. Holiday nonsense, know-it-all attitude, nothing new.” The older woman muttered, “She’s convinced herself that she’s now in charge of who I spend my time with during the Christmas season...it’s all ridiculous, really. She’s gotten half of it from cheesy films on the Hallmark channel.”

“Cheesy? C’mon, those are the best.” Emma laughed teasingly. All she won in response was a small little smile from the virtually silent mayor. There was a pause between them both, with Emma kicking at some the snow beneath their feet and Regina waiting until she was properly excused from the conversation so she could walk back to her car. It was freezing out here, after all. Emma’s coat could only do so much.

“...so, what are your plans for Christmas Eve?”

Such a quickly sputtered question left the mayor rather stunned, her head flicking up to lock her own chocolate hues with curious emerald ones. “...I thought you and your parents were coming over to the mansion for dinner?” she said with a bit of a frown. Surely she hadn’t heard wrong; it was more than likely the blissful blonde sheriff had forgotten their family plans. But by the way Emma laughed and shoved her hands in her back pockets, she was referring to something other than the holiday affair.

“No, uh, I mean for...after that. Y’know, once Henry goes to sleep.”

She furrowed her brow again. Emma was left to clarify.

“I mean...some people like to have a glass of wine, or eat cookies and watch movies...or hang out with friends. I think Ruby and Belle are going on like...a midnight date to the park...something about ice skating. Just stuff like that.”

“I do believe Miss French and Miss Lucas have a type of relationship that transcends the definition of ‘friends’, dear.”

Emma’s cheeks appeared to deepen in color, likely attributed to the cold for all Regina knew. They’d catch their death if they stood out here much longer, but the blonde wasn’t finished.

“Uh, yeah. Right. But you...never answered my question. Are you doing anything?”

Ill-informed on the subject at hand, the mayor did nothing but shrug her shoulders and shake her head gently enough to keep her hair out of her eyes. “No, I don’t believe so. I’ll likely just be going to bed...I have to wake up early to lay out Henry’s gifts, anyways. Besides, you’re coming back over in the morning, aren’t you? Your mother said we should just do the gift exchange there...it’s not like you’ll be out of my house for more than a couple hours.”

Emma’s shoulders seemed to immediately slump at Regina’s answer, almost...disappointed. The latter of the two really couldn’t imagine why that would be the case, it was more likely that the sheriff had let her posture slump as would fit with her informal personality. That didn’t exactly explain why her face fell so dramatically afterwards, but Regina brushed it off. Hot chocolate was beginning to solidify and freeze her shirt into a milky ice cube; she just wanted to go home.

“...totally. Yeah. We’ll be back for gifts. Just...figured I’d ask.” The Savior offered lamely in response, her boot kicking against a frozen block of ice that had fallen from the wheel of the Bug, “Well, I’ll...see you in a couple of days then.”

“See you then. I’ll have your coat washed and returned to you by Christmas Eve.”

Emma gawked suddenly, head up to try and catch the Mayor before she stalked off. “What? Oh, no, you don’t have to wash--”

“Nonsense. I should hope you’ve learned not to return unwashed apparel to its proper owner.” Her mind momentarily wandered back to a time when Emma had stolen one of her nicer silk shirts; with a suppressed smirk she hoped the silly blonde had learned her lesson before returning her beloved blouse, “You’ll get it back once it’s cleaned.”

With a brief smile following her unspoken goodbye, Regina turned on her heeled boot and marched back into the diner, one hand rising up to flash a final wave to the Savior. She needed to get home anyways-- plenty more to do before Christmas actually rolled around.

She was halfway through taping up a three tier bird feeder for Snow when Zelena slipped into the kitchen, disrupting her wrapping paper system by setting a mug of peppermint hot chocolate on top of the tape roll. Regina’s eyes quickly flashed inclinations of murder for having order upheaved in her kitchen, but she shoved it down and replaced all dangerous urges with a snark.

“Have you come to spill another drink on my blouse again? Or may I have the pleasure of forcibly pouring that down your throat?”

“Oh, hush. I was doing you a favor.” Zelena huffed, “Didn’t you appreciate my little gesture? It got you exactly what you wanted, didn’t it?”

“...why on earth, or anywhere else for that matter, would I appreciate you having to up my dry cleaning bill?”

Almost hurt by the statement, the redhead stiffened up in her chair and folded her hands on the countertop. “It got you outside with Emma! Go on, don’t be upset; you can say thank you, and I promise I’ll only hold it over your head until you die.”

Regina rolled her eyes, now significantly more frustrated with her sister’s cryptic dialogue than the fact that she was inches away from sloshing her drink all over a fresh roll of wrapping paper. “What do you want me to say? Thank you for sending me out in the cold? Thank you for making me have a far too lengthy conversation in a ruined shirt?”

“A lengthy conversation!” Zelena’s eyes seemed to light up, “And? What did she say?”

“...she asked what I was doing on Christmas Eve?” Her remark was immediately greeted with the kind of grin that she would rather see plastered on a demonic doll than on her own sister’s face.

“And?”

“...and what?”

Zelena deflated instantly, like a pompous green balloon that had floated a bit too high for its own good. Regina dropped her own shoulders, scotch tape from her fingers latching onto the granite as she stared at her sibling incredulously.

“What?”

“Oh my god, I knew you were thick, but Regina, this is absolutely ridiculous.”

“I didn’t say anything--”

“I know! That’s the problem! It’s almost embarrassing to be related to you, good lord.”

“What did I do?” The brunette demanded, “You sent me out into the cold, I talked to Miss Swan, and I came home. What could you possibly have a problem with?”

“She asked what you were doing on Christmas Eve!” Zelena practically groaned, “It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t do! Regina, you’re a buffoon; you spend all this time talking my bloody ears off about how you don’t have a holiday whatever, you mope and you get obnoxious, but when someone comes along that actually shows interest in your sorry arse, you let them walk right past you! You didn’t even try!”

As if she’d just come off some great pedestal, the older Mills sister slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms, leaving Regina to stare and gawk at the words that had been spoken. She searched extensively for something to say, but when all words fell flat, she simply averted her gaze and attempted to tend to her presents once again.

“...I never said I wanted to spend the holidays with someone like that.” she muttered, no heart in her words whatsoever, “That was you.”

“You’re going to stick this on me? Honestly? What, just the scapegoat for your loneliness, as per the usual?” Zelena sneered.

“I’m not lonely!” she snapped back, “I have a family to spend Christmas with, and Emma...is...a part of that.”

If at all possible, the witch would have rolled her eyes all the way back into her skull. “Listen to yourself talk, Regina. You know that’s not true. Everyone in this bloody town knows it’s not true, and if you had just acted on it instead of strutting around like a moron, then maybe you wouldn’t be in this position right now.”

Silence befell the room. Zelena’s eyes never left her sister, despite reaching to take another sip of her hot chocolate, while Regina’s own had begun to glisten with embarrassed tears. She hated having to hear her sister say outloud what she wasn’t willing to admit; her own stupidity had cost her a chance at exactly what she desired. Involving Emma in the matter hadn’t been questionable either, given what had begun to occur over the past several months between the two of them. Some experiences simply couldn’t be shared without strings attached, and too many little threads seemed to now be intertwining the Savior and the Evil Queen. Emma had been there to save her more times than she could count, and though she wouldn’t admit it, Regina knew she’d returned the favor at some point as well.

Things had become special, warm and welcoming...intimate, even. Perhaps Regina had just thrown that all away.

Or perhaps not.

Forcefully tugging the tape strands from her fingers, she shoved the half-wrapped gift aside and stormed towards the foyer. Zelena, observing mindfully, turned in her seat to see her sister leave.

“Care to explain where you’re going?” she called.

“It’s not too late to act on it.” The youngest sister muttered, snagging a familiar coat from the stairwell before disappearing out the door.

Why it was so hard for the dry-cleaners to deal with polyester material, Regina didn’t understand, but three days was a ridiculous amount of time to spend getting minimal hot chocolate stains out of any kind of fabric. It had pushed back her plans dramatically-- all the way to December 23, to be exact. That’s when she had found herself standing outside the doors of the Loft, knocking halfheartedly first before pounding her knuckles into the door.

It swung back quickly, almost colliding a clenched fist with the face that parted the door. Emma’s look of surprise stilled Regina’s hand moments before it could happen, thank goodness, but caused the mayor to fear that the following conversations would not go well.

“Geez-- hi, Regina.” Emma said slowly, lips twitching as if to decide between a neutral grin and excitable smile, “...everything alright?”

“I need you to step outside for a moment.” Regina blurted, immediately trying to steady herself with a deep breath afterwards, “I...would like to speak with you privately, if that’s alright.” She wasn’t exactly anticipating a ‘no’ for an answer, anyways.

“Yeah, sure!” Emma scampered away from the door as she spoke, pulling it slightly shut behind her to keep the conversation from drifting into the Loft, “What’s up?”

Regina froze up for a moment, eyes trained on Emma as if she somehow expected her to prompt the conversation further. She was running over the dialogue she’d prepared in her head, waiting for it to catch up with the moment at hand, before she realized in a panic that the blonde had already addressed her. Hoping to make the situation less awkward, and failing miserably in that feat, she thrust the Savior’s borrowed coat back at its owner and cleared her throat.

“I...wanted to come return this to you. I’ve had it cleaned, so there’s no more hot chocolate on it, and I wanted to say thank you for allowing me to wear it...but I figured it would still be cold before Christmas Eve, so you might think to have it back in case something happens to the other one.” She was rambling and Emma was almost certainly going to notice. Not even two minutes into this daunting conversation, and she was already making a fool of herself.

“...oh. Thanks.” Emma said, eyes widening slightly as she took back the heavy windbreaker. She’d honestly never seen it so clean before; a real smile broke across her face in response. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“I believe we went over this already...and it was my pleasure.” Every word coming out of her mouth was too curt, too formal. If she hadn’t already frightened Emma off by denouncing her invitation the first time, then she was certainly succeeding this time around by alienating the sheriff with her language. “My...my treat, I mean.”

Emma’s head tilted to lean against the door. “Well, thank you again.”

Without the coat in her hands, Regina was at a loss what to do with them. They twisted and clenched, fingers writhing around the cuffs of her lengthy sleeves as they’d been deprived of the one thing they could grab. Emma on the other hand was holding the coat as if it were something precious, and Regina glared at the material, mentally blaming it for not making this situation easier. When Emma squirmed, though, she stopped, berating herself for continuing to make this worse.

“...you wanna come in?” Emma piped up moments later, rocking Regina out of her thoughts, “Mary Margaret is making sugar cookies...I think she impaled most of them with a fork, but they’re still really good!”

“No, no. That’s alright. I...should be heading home soon.” The Mayor said. Her response was habitual, but when she saw the way Emma’s face immediately fell afterwards, she was cursing herself. She’d come here to make things better, not repeat past mistakes; the Savior look like a wounded puppy, and Regina was the master that had just struck her for a second time.

“Oh...no worries. So I’ll see you t--”

“I wanted to ask you something.” The words came tumbling from Regina’s mouth before she could stop them. Perhaps that was for the best, since now there was no turning back. Everything was out in the open, including her inability to properly compose herself in front of a saddened Emma Swan.

“...okay. What do you n--”

“What are your plans for Christmas Eve?”

Emma’s features shifted from battered to confused. She blinked a few times down at the floor and adjusted the coat in her arms, only managing to find recycled words from days earlier. “I thought I was...coming over to the mansion for di--”

“No, no. I mean...after that. Some people like to...have a glass of wine, or eat the Christmas cookies and watch movies...or go ice skating down at the park.” She swallowed hard, “I was wondering if...maybe you’d like to...do any of that. With me. Tomorrow night.”

Awestruck, all the sheriff could do was stare. Regina lingered worriedly under her gaze, panickedly wondering if her invitation hadn’t been well received. Maybe Emma had been insulted by the gesture of repetition, or maybe just by Regina’s plans at all. Maybe she’d already missed her chance to make things--

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

The former Queen paused, breath stuck in her throat, “W-Well...I don’t know if I’d call it a date, but if you want it to be then I suppose we c--”

“Regina.” Emma said, finally taking her turn to interrupt and doing so with a broadening smile, “I’d love to. Ten o’clock in the park? After dinner?”

“...after dinner. At the park...yes, that sounds perfect.” she exclaimed gently, “I’ll see you then.”

“See you then.”

Somewhere around Emma’s third face plant is when Regina stopped bending down to help her up, knowing the toll it would take on her knees would eventually be too much. Besides, it was far more entertaining to skate around the blonde in circles while she scrambled back up to her feet, and even more amusing still was the look on Emma’s face as she picked herself up off the ice.

“I thought you said you didn’t know how to ice skate?” she whined, watching Regina whiz around her without so much as a wobble.

“I said I hadn’t ice skated in a very long time, not that I didn’t know how.” The brunette chuckled, “My father used to take me out onto a lake by our house when I was younger, and I taught your mother how to skate when she was Henry’s age.”

“Well, that’s no fair. Now you’re cheating.” Emma huffed. After brushing off her knees and adjusting her beanie, she was finally back on her feet and waddling towards Regina as best she could, “Your skill level exceeds mine, so now you have to teach me.”

Regina chuckled, extending out a gloved hand for Emma to take in order to prevent a fourth fall. “Teach you?” she mused, “And how do you suggest I do that?”

“...don’t let me fall over?” Emma offered, grinning sheepishly as she moved to cling to her exceedingly-skilled guide.

Looping her arm through Emma’s, Regina then began to pull her slowly across the ice. They turned in small circles at first, gradually growing into larger lines that swirled at the edges and spanned across most of the lake. Each of their skates cut new patterns in the ice, overlapping with lines left from where Ruby and Belle had crossed as well. In fact, several other couples had been making laps around the frozen pond; Aurora had coaxed her warrior protectress out onto the ice, followed not long after by Astrid excitedly tugging Leroy behind her as well. David and Snow must have been by earlier as well, judging by the footprints they’d left in the snow alongside the much smaller ones made by their son. Another couple was farther off down the stretch of frozen water as well, but their silhouettes were hidden in the darkness of the night.

All the lines from each pair of skaters had cut firmly into the frozen lake beneath them, some done up in patterns and others in elaborate shapes. It must have been Belle and Ruby that had twirled so perfectly as to create a symmetrical heart in the center of the lake, one that Regina only noticed when she turned and began guiding Emma from the front. Her own legs worked backwards, a little feat that had the blonde gasping for a moment.

“Damn, Regina. You sure you haven’t been practicing in all that weird free time you had during the curse?” she laughed, but her teasing was quickly replaced by a sharp gasp --’watch out!’-- as Regina skated directly back into another passing couple. They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and sent the Mayor tumbling to the ground. What with her grip on Emma’s arm, she tugged the blonde down too, the sheriff landing square on her chest with a small grunt.

“What the hell…” Regina moaned, her back beginning to chill from where it was now pressed against the ice. But when she turned to look up at her indirect attacker, all complaints of landing on her back and freezing her ass off were forgotten, or at least stored away for later.

Now it was almost certain that the mysterious couple had appeared out of nowhere, having been biding their time on the far side of the lake. In the moment, though, one of them was perfectly visible...and Zelena’s smirk had never been so wide. A silent oops passed her lips as she skated back off, towing behind her a chuckling faerie dressed in deep winter greens. It seemed even the Wicked Witch had found her Christmas match for the year.

“You okay?” Emma said at last, having also been slightly captivated by the green team on ice, “That was a pretty wicked fall...shit, sorry, pretty hard fall. You need help up?”

“S-Sure.” Regina shivered in response, peeling herself off the ice as Emma gradually worked her way off her. Only once they were back on their feet did either of them notice that they’d managed to land haphazardly in the center of that icily crafted heart, but there was no way Zelena could have meant for that to happen.

Shaking arms came up around Regina’s torso and rubbed furiously, trying to ward off the cold that had begun to seep into her skin thanks to the fall. Emma took immediate notice of the brunette’s predicament, and without saying a word, slipped off her own coat and moved to drape it around Regina’s shoulders.

“Sorry about that...I should have seen them sooner, or...hit the breaks.” Emma murmured, giving gentle tugs on the fabric until it fit against Regina’s form.

“...s-something tells me we w-would have c-crashed into her no matter what.” Regina chuckled back. Her words faded out as she noticed that Emma had not yet let go of the jacket now draped around the smaller woman’s figure. The latter of the two seemed to spot that small fact as well, and though her eyes widened she did not pull away.

“...you sure you’re okay?” she whispered instead. Regina nodded, shoulders still shaking from the cold, but it wasn’t a lie. She was better in that moment than she had been in what felt like a very, very long time.

“...y-yes, I’m f-f--!” Suddenly, everything froze. Her words locked up in her throat, her hands still at her sides, and her knees stiffened beneath her hips. The entire scene seemed to stop until she could grasp what was happening-- until she could understand that Emma Swan had just leaned in and pressed her lips against Regina’s own. It had been mid-sentence, rushed, unexpected, shocking, warm, and wonderful. And when Emma pulled away to try and explain…

“...I’m so sorry, that was insane, I just didn’t know if y--”

...Regina pulled her right back in. All the anxiety and worry from the week before melted off her in waves, somehow burning off in the frigid December air. She was certain that somewhere down the lake her sister was throwing up her hands in smug celebration, but she didn’t care. This kiss had been a long time coming, and she wasn’t going to waste it. Not for Zelena’s ridiculous matchmaking, not for Emma’s awkward proposals, and not for her own fear of accepting any of it. This, she knew without a doubt, most certainly beat spending Christmas Eve alone.

They stayed there for a small eternity this time, gently moving against one another until need to take in the frosty air around them forced them each to pull away. It was Emma who worked her hardest to catch her breath, reaching a hand up and beginning to rub the back of her neck as she did so. A goofy smile painted itself over her features little by little, until that childlike excitement was plastered all over her when she spoke again.

“...hey, Regina?” she whispered.

“...yes, dear?”