Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, I only play with them for my own amusement.

Note to my readers: Thank you to those of you who have stuck with me for so long. I have not been myself for a long time and am now rediscovering this part of me. It's not easy with everything I have been fighting, but I have not and will not abandon my stories.

Chapter 10

Regina felt her vision go dark with the combination of rage and fear.

If that wolf harmed one hair on Emma's head she would regret it for a long, long time.

Both Emma and Red seemed frozen, just staring at her as if they couldn't believe she was there.

Meanwhile, Regina was wondering how the hell the wolf had gotten her lover out of her room, and what she intended to do to the blonde.

"Regina!, No!" Emma called out as the brunette began to form a fire ball in her palm.

"Emma, please step away, you don't know how dangerous that animal is" Regina replied as calmly as she could.

The blonde glanced between her and Red for a moment, looking confused.

"Animal?!" she asked finally.

She felt her eyes widen, Emma didn't know that Red was a werewolf.

The fireball in her hand swelled with her fear for Emma til it engulfed her hand and she itched to release it on the wolf, but she knew that Emma was still too close.

Instead of stepping away, Emma straightened her shoulders and stepped directly in front of Red, between the wolf and Regina's fireball.

Regina wanted to scream, she should have known that the blonde might do something like this, she had seen proof of her bravery when the princess had stepped out from behind the party guests to face her just before Regina had abducted her.

The brunette knew she had to try something else, anything else, to get her love away from the wolf before it could try to harm her.

Thinking fast Regina pulled the fireball back into herself, then used the energy to create a protective bubble around Red, to capture her.

"Gina, no!" Emma yelled as she saw what Regina had done.

Regina watched Emma pound on the outside of the bubble futilely, while her heart began to slow it's racing now that the danger had passed for Emma.

When she finally felt she was steady enough, Regina walked slowly towards Emma and the bubble containing the werewolf.

"She didn't hurt you, did she?" Regina asked her lover as she looked the woman over top to bottom.

"No!, Regina, she didn't hurt me, she was helping me!" the blonde exclaimed.

At that the brunette took a step back, having not expected that answer she was at something of a loss as to how to handle the situation.

"Helping you do what, precisely?" the former evil queen asks, drawing herself up imperiously.

Emma blinked and just gaped at her for a minute before her eyes widened and she began to sputter an incoherent reply.

The brunette simply waited till Emma began to wind down, with much gesturing, before interrupting her to make her repeat herself, slower the second time.

"I know what it looks like Regina. I swear to you it's not!" the blonde stated vehemently.

Emma seemed to cast about for the right words for almost a full minute before starting into her explanation.

"I was not planning on leaving the castle. I just felt like I needed to talk to you, not be locked in that room like some helpless maiden."

After a moment she continues, "You remember when we met, Regina? I came charging in to save you from those bandits, granted I didn't know you could have taken them all out with a flick of your wrist, but the point I'm trying to make is, I'm not the type of woman that sits back and lets others do everything without her".

For the second time in the last few minutes Regina was shocked into silence.

"Emma, you know what I've been doing while you were back in your room, I have been searching through books for spells, to use against your parents!".

"I know that" the blonde insists, "But it is half my fault we are in this mess".

"And just how do you figure that, my dear?" the former evil queen asks mildly.

"Because, if I had just told my parents that I prefer women over men, they might actually believe that I went with you willingly!" the princess persists.

"Emma, you mustn't feel guilty for not telling your parents everything. Indeed, even if they knew that you prefer women, it is unlikely they would believe that I had not bewitched you in some way".

Regina knew that Emma probably wouldn't believe her words of comfort, but she also knew she had to say something.

She couldn't let her lover take the blame when the fault was hers, for things she had done before the blonde had ever been born.

"Regina , , ,, " the blonde began.

Just then something, or rather someone, caught her eye.

The wolf, still encased in her bubble, watching them intently.

"Dear" the brunette interrupts "What are we going to do with her?", she gestures behind Emma.

"Let her go?" Emma asks hopefully.

The brunette considers the woman in the bubble carefully, the younger brunette snarls at her in response to the attention.

"No, I'm afraid that isn't an option. I have no illusions about the harm she would do, were I to release her completely".

"Regina, how can she really be a threat to you?" the princess asked incredulously.

Regina stared at Emma for almost a full minute, the woman really didn't know about her new friend.

"Emma" she began gently, uncertain how to tell her lover without shell shocking her.

"She isn't just an ordinary woman Emma. If she was I would have no real use for her, nor would I have a way to control her, short of taking her heart" she glanced from Emma to Red, trying to see if the blonde was understanding, while also trying to keep an eye on the werewolf.

"What do you mean she isn't an ordinary woman?" the blonde repeated "Maybe not ordinary, but what else would she be?" now the princess just looked confused.

Was it possible that Emma, a princess of the realm, did not know about werewolves at all? Regina thought.

"Emma, honey, this woman you have befriended? She's not exactly what she seems, she is a werewolf".

Regina's gentle statement was met with shocked silence from the blonde, and a low growl from the brunette in her bubble prison.

She ignored the wolf, instead watching Emma for her reaction to the revelation.

It was a fascinating few moments, Regina could almost see the wheels turning in the blonde's head, even if she couldn't guess at what the woman was actually thinking.

Then the blonde turned slowly to the woman in the bubble "Red?!", immediately the brunette's face softened, but from the look on Emma's face, it was already too late, the damage was done and the blonde wasn't about to let the wolf off the hook that easily.

"Emma, I can explain, it wasn't like that" Red sputters.

"Then tell me what it was like" the blonde snaps in a fit of temper.

For once Regina stays out of it, only just realizing that she has never really seen her lover angry before.

The wolf was hesitating, whether to stall, or to figure out what to say, the brunette couldn't have said.

"I trusted you Red. You couldn't have trusted me? Even just a little?"

Regina watched her lover's words fly and hit their mark square between the eyes, and she watched the wolf wince as though struck by a physical blow.

Then she raised her hand, intent on doing something to soften her beloved's wrath against the woman she had called a friend, though she couldn't have said just why she wanted to do so.

"Emma, perhaps she has a reason for not telling you what she was?" the brunette says, her tone soft but still faintly sarcastic.

The wolf growls at her, but Regina only arches an eyebrow in challenge, daring Red to ignore the chance she has given her.

Regina watches Red grit her teeth and refocus her attention on Emma.

"She's right Princess, there are reasons why I didn't tell you I was a child of the moon".

Emma, to her credit, put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm listening Red".

The Queen saw the wolf shoot a glance her way before trying to repair some of the damage her secret had done to her new friendship.

"Princess, how much time have you spent among the common people of your kingdom?" she paused to give the question more weight, "Do you know how most commoners treat werewolves in the outer corners of the kingdom?"

"Well given that I didn't know there were any werewolves in my kingdom, it would be difficult, at best, for me to know how most would treat them".

Emma must be pissed indeed if that was her reply the brunette thought.

Red gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes at that, but answered the questions anyway.

"In most parts of the Enchanted Forrest people back away slowly, like they think I might attack at any moment when they find out I'm a wolf. In smaller villages Granny and I might be run out in the middle of the night, or even burned out, if people find out I'm a wolf".

"There is nowhere that is truly safe once they find out I'm a werewolf. If we're lucky the locals only refuse to sell me anything and Granny has to do the shopping on market day. If we aren't lucky . .. ." she trailed off leaving Emma to connect the dots.

Emma stared into the distance, "There aren't any laws protecting magical peoples in the kingdom" she said quietly, almost distractedly.

Her blue eyes focused like a laser, once more, on the wolf in the bubble.

"If you knew anything about me from your cousin, it should have been that you could trust me".

Regina could hear the anguish in Emma's voice and wondered if the wolf was picking up on it at all, after all, a wolf's senses were supposed to be far beyond that of a human.

Then the princess turned towards her and Regina saw what Red couldn't, and it made the breath catch in her throat for a heartbeat.

There, clear as daylight, was an all too familiar spark in those sky blue eyes; magic.

This was certainly the last thing the brunette had expected to find in her lover.

But it was undeniably there, and it made a certain sense, to her at least.

It seemed as though she were destined to never truly be free of magic, even when it came to those she loved.

Then another thought struck her, hard on the heels of the last.

Did Emma know that she possessed magic?

Thinking back over all the time they had spent together and all of the things they had been through, situations where magic would have helped the princess to get what she wanted, Regina realized that it was unlikely the blonde knew of her own power.

Also, given her parentage, it would likely have been viewed with apprehension and a certain level of caution, if not out right fear, had the princess been revealed to have magic.

And she herself was responsible for that.

No, somehow no one, not even Emma herself, knew that she had magic.

It could have been worse Regina reflected, after all she was one of the few people in the kingdom who would not react badly to finding out that Emma had magic, and she was one of the few who could teach the princess to use it.

But first she would have to find a way to broach the subject, gently.

Thinking quick Regina turned to Red.

"Maybe you can still be useful, if you're willing to try and help?"

It had been a snap decision for her, and certainly not what she had ever expected to be saying to the wolf.

The wolf growled low in her throat before glancing at Emma's back and then back at her.

"Why, and what would I be helping you with?" she asked cautiously.

"Regina?!" Emma exclaimed in obvious confusion.

"Emma, my love, there's only two of us. Only so much we can do, even with my magic" Regina states matter of factly.

"But if the wolf will help us freely, then maybe we stand more of a chance of getting what we want. If, that is, you still want to stay by my side?"

"Regina . . ." the blonde pauses, shaking her head "You're an idiot. Of course I still want to be by your side!"

"Idiot?!" the former queen repeated in her best imperious voice, only just managing not to laugh at her lover's gall in calling her such a name.

"Perhaps I am an idiot, but I'm your idiot and only yours" she added a moment later.

The next thing the brunette knew she had a feisty blonde kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

And when she could breathe, and think, again she looked back at the wolf to see if she might just be ready to answer her question from before Regina had gotten distracted.

"This doesn't mean I trust you; but I do trust her" the wolf states, glancing from her to Emma.

"Agreed" Regina said before flicking her wrist to dissolve the barrier and turning to head inside.

"I believe we can continue this conversation in more comfortable surroundings" she tossed out over her shoulder without glancing back to see if the two of them would follow.

Back inside she glances one way down the hall and then the other before heading for a private sitting room near her bedroom and using magic to set out food and drink, and to start a fire in the grate.

As she sits the wolf and the princess enter slowly and glance around the room before choosing their seats; Emma sits next to her and Red across the way, as far as she can get from Regina and still be close enough to feel the warmth of the fire.

Before she can start to discuss what they will be doing, Red sits forward and pins her with a piercing stare.

"Is this the part where you tell me that perhaps we got off on the wrong foot?" she asks sarcastically.

"I suppose I could make some dry remark about that being easy to do since you occasionally have four" the Queen replied drolly.

"But, since we are trying to get along, that would be counter-productive" she continued even as the wolf growled at her.

"Can we just put the past in the past and pretend that you two don't want to claw each others eyes out?" Emma interjected; and then closed her eyes, wincing as she apparently just realized what she had said.

"Sorry Red, it just slipped out, I wasn't trying to poke fun at you".

Regina couldn't help the small smirk that tipped her lips at the princess' Freudian slip, even if it did earn her another glare from the wolf.

"Actually Dear, it might help matters more if Red continued to act as if she hates me" Regina added.

That gave the blonde pause, and she could see Emma's mind racing for answers.

"Just what did you have in mind for Red to do?".

Regina waited a beat to ensure that she had their attention before speaking.

"Ever since your parents" she had to force herself not to grimace at that detail, " searched the cottage, I have been using general things, bad luck and the sort, to slow their progress in finding us here. I have had to do that because I don't know just where they are or where they will go next. I also don't know what they may be planning for when they actually find us".

Emma nodded "What makes you think they have a plan?" she queried.

"It may have been a while, but they are well used to dealing with me Emma. They wont go into this without a plan to get you back safely" she smiled coldly, all her past wickedness was coming home to roost, so to speak.

"Thwarting their plan will go much easier if w can find out what they are doing, where they will be.

That's where Red comes in, and where her hatred of me will come in very handy".

"Wait a moment, you want Red to act as a spy?" Emma exclaimed, "That's your great plan?!".

"Do give me some credit Emma. It's not quite that simplistic. If she can gain their trust, then she can lead them where we want them, well away from us. And while they are off in the wrong direction I can plant things in front of them that will further slow them down."

Regina looked from one to the other waiting to see if they were willing to go along with it.

Emma was studying her face intently, Red was looking at her with open contempt; but beneath that there was a hint of contemplation that told Regina she was seriously considering it.

A few minutes of waiting it out and Red finally broke the silence.

"How do we even know that they will even trust me?" she asked simply.

Emma let out a very UN-princess like snort "Because they're the most generous, trusting, and occasionally oblivious, rulers in the land" the blonde laughed.

"Well, there is that. Also the fact that I have been in exile for a long time, and even at the height of my reign I rarely trusted anyone to get truly close to me" Regina stated calmly.

The wolf laughed loudly at that. "You consider this close?" she quipped.

The former Queen raised an eyebrow imperiously, "You are in my home, currently unshackled, you know of my weakness for the Princess, and I am about to let you walk out of here and trust that you wont simply join the White's little hunting party and lead them straight to us".

Pausing she pursed her lips, "for me that is closer than most will ever get".

The little revelation seemed to give the wolf pause.

"So just where are my parents now?" Emma injected, changing the subject quickly, if not quite smoothly.

That was her Emma, Regina thought with a smile, smart if not exactly as graceful as a princess should be.

"The last I saw, they were regrouping back at the palace".

Regina found it odd that she didn't feel even a twinge of bitterness that it was now Snow's palace and not hers.

Then again, she reflected, she had the greatest treasure in the kingdom at her side, and in her bed.

"The mirror?" Emma asked.

In answer, Regina only nodded.

For long moments the princess appeared to be deep in thought, before at last looking up with a smile that was more reminiscent of the old Evil Queen, than of the sweet blonde princess she had fallen in love with.

"Emma, what have you thought of?"

"You yourself told me that you only took with you the magical items that were the most powerful and dangerous" Emma prompted.

"Yes" Regina replied, the lilt of a question raising the word at the end.

"I believe that many of the items you left are still in the castle" the princess continued.

Regina scoffed, "That would be absurd, they probably destroyed all of that ages ago, before you were even born".

"It would be ridiculous to keep that stuff in the castle, especially with a child around".

"Unless, you know what I do. My parents are so wary of anything magic that they wouldn't even touch the things themselves, they had servants pack the stuff up and hide it. Apparently they were afraid of what might happen if they accidentally triggered something while trying to destroy it".

Emma raised an eyebrow in her direction at the last.

"It seems I've underestimated them, at least in that. Their fear of magic may yet work to our advantage." inwardly Regina was cringing, if Snow and Charming were afraid to destroy a few trinkets because of what it might do, how would they come to terms with the fact that their daughter had magic inside of her?

It might not even matter in the midst of the other news they would be facing, that Emma was in love with her, that she had chosen to stay with her when she could have returned home, Regina could wager a guess that the royal parents would have more than one worry on their minds when they found out that their daughter had magic.

Emma had a point though, if Snow and Charming had not destroyed what she left behind there might be a few things she could use to their advantage. It felt odd to be thinking in terms of their and them, and not just including herself and Emma, but Red as well. But this transition had happened so quickly that she barely minded it. Red was Emma's friend, and so she might in turn become Regina's friend as well.

Even as she was considering the strangeness of that turn Regina was already making a list in her head of all the things she had left in the palace and what could be the most useful to them. There had been many spell books, but those would have been the easiest to destroy, and would have seemed the least dangerous, so they might not be there anymore. If her Mirror was still there he might be able to recall something useful, if he had not simply faded away over the years since she left.

Emma's voice intruded on here thoughts, dragging her back to the present.

"Regina, Regina!", and then softer, "Regina, what have you thought of?".

"I was just making a list of the things we should look for".

"But we still have the problem of getting into the castle and searching without being seen by any of the servants, or worse, the guards".

Emma nodded, "I can narrow the search a bit. Most of your old things are in the attics. But that doesn't help as much as we might hope with not being seen."

"Sometimes the servants go up there to avoid being caught" the blonde added, looking away and blushing ever so slightly.

Something about the way she had said it, and the blush that the princess couldn't quite hide, made Regina think there was more to that story, even if this wasn't the time to find out just what it might be. She made a note to ask Emma about it later, when they had some privacy.

Red, who had been watching them quietly for the last few minutes, spoke up. "I might know what section of the attic the Queen's things are in".

"Really?" Regina replied.

The wolf nodded, "When I was little I used to play around the castle with my cousin. My aunt always warned us never to go into the attic over the north wing. She wouldn't say why, but I know she was one of the servants that helped with packing up your things and putting them away where they couldn't hurt anyone".

"That makes sense" the blonde murmured. Then she looked up, glancing from Red to Regina and back again.

"I tried to get into those rooms a few times, they're sealed with magic, have been for as long as I can remember".

"How would your parents have sealed it with magic?" Regina mused aloud.

Emma was already shaking her head before the question was fully out of her mouth.

"They couldn't, but the blue fairy would have done it if they asked her to".

The brunette's lips twisted into a grimace at the mention of the fairy that had helped bring her to her knees at the height of her reign as the Evil Queen.

"Fairy magic is different from my own. Undoing the spell won't be easy. But if I know ahead of time I will be able to prepare something. And knowing Blue, I think I know just what sort of spell she would have used".

Her lips twisted into a wry smile on her last words.

"If your old books are in the castle where are you going to find what you need?" the blonde asked.

"This castle used to belong to an old friend of mine, a sorceress of considerable power, she had some fey blood in her. A number of her old books contain fey magics that would normally be of no use to me, but I can utilize them to reverse engineer the spells that Blue might have used".

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Red's eyes widen.

"Are you talking about Maleficent? This was HER castle?" the wolf exclaimed.

Regina merely nodded. Maleficent would have been pleased that someone remembered her.

"Granny used to tell me stories about her. She was a terrible woman, and even worse when she turned into a dragon".

Regina actually laughed at that.

"Mal would have loved being remembered in that way".

Confusion played across Red's face for a long moment before she finally shook her head, obviously trying to get some image out of her head.

"Remind me to thoroughly check any room here before I sleep in it" she stated, looking to Emma.

"Don't be ridiculous" Regina interjected, "I made sure every inch of this place was safe before I brought Emma here".

"Okay, so let me see if I have this right? Red is going to go find my parents and get friendly with them to find out what they are planning, while you and I are searching through the books Maleficent left here for any sort of spells that might slow them down, as well as anything like what Blue may have used to seal the attics in the castle?" Emma looked from Regina to Red and then back again.

"And what happens once we know my parents' plans?" she let the question hang in the air.

"Well, I have a spell that will let Red communicate with us through a pair of small mirrors, so that once she is with your parents she can let us know what is going on without having to travel all the way back here" Regina paused.

"I'll need to find a couple of mirrors that we can use for that and then cast the spell on them, then Red will have to return to the kingdom and play her part".

"And then I will need to teach you a few things so you'll know what you're looking at enough to be of help in searching Maleficent's books. Very few of them are in plain common language".

And, she thought, teaching the princess a few things would make it easier to bring up the topic of her own magical gifts.

"When do we get started?" Emma asked.

"After we eat?" Red pipped up.

"And after we get a couple of things straight" Regina added.

"Like what?" Emma replied suspiciously.

"I am going to assume there will be no more attempts to "escape"?" the lilt at the end of the sentence turned it into a question.

Emma sputtered "I wasn't, that's not what, . .. ." finally composing herself enough to finish with "Then I assume there will be no more locking me in my rooms".

The former queen had to admit, Emma certainly had the poise for her position, when she cared to exercise it.

"Since it is clearly useless to do so, I had no intention of continuing that" Regina retorted.

Then she turned to the wolf.

"And since it seems you are willing to help us of your own free will, I will refrain from using the spell to control your actions", Red grinned hopefully, but Regina continued "I will not remove the spell until I am sure of where your loyalties lie, but I wont actively use it against you".

Red grumbled out a "Fine" and went back to looking as uninterested as she could.

Acting as though she had just thought of it Regina suddenly asked "Emma, you don't have a problem learning a bit about magic, do you?".

"As long as you aren't teaching me anything dark, I'm fine with it" she answered carefully.

And with that it seemed like everyone was satisfied, at least enough to set it aside and go for the food that she had previously laid out.

There was an assortment of smoked meat, cheese, bread, fruits, and hot tea; because Regina had taken note of how cold the day was and the fact that both Emma and Red looked as though they had been outside long enough to get a chill.

Emma's POV

As the three of them tucked into their lunch, Emma was glad of the tea to warm her insides.

It was somewhat odd, to be having a meal with both of them, as though Regina had not enslaved Red and Red didn't hate Regina for it.

Somehow though it just worked, there were no accusatory glares or snide retorts between the two. Emma thought that that might just be a small miracle.

While they ate Emma thought about what they were about to do. It all seemed so impossible that in just a few months time she had fallen in love with her parent's greatest enemy, run away with the woman, and was now conspiring with her lover and a werewolf to evade her parents and their army who were out searching for them.

And then there was the big problem, how were they to convince her mother that she chose to be with Regina?

There had to be some way to open her mother's eyes to the truth.

Lunch was fairly quiet, Emma figured each of them was mulling over their part in what was to be done, of course, Regina was probably trying to think of some spell that might help convince Snow that they were telling the truth about loving each other.

That thought made her smile to herself.

The books they would be searching had belonged to Maleficent, she had no idea what they might include, but like Regina, Maleficent had been evil, so what they might find was anyone's guess.

Still, Regina had taught her enough that she knew that magic was not simply good or evil, it was more how it was used.

Maybe there was something that could be turned around to help them?

Emma just hoped that together they could find a solution, and find it fast, the kingdom was only so big and her parents would find them eventually.

Suddenly Red stood up "I should go soon, it will take me a while to reach the castle, even on four feet".

It jostled the blonde out of her thoughts, she hadn't expected her friend to leave so soon, especially since it seemed like she had only just returned.

Regina looked up and nodded. "If you two will find me a small mirror I can start preparing the communication spell".

Red looked from the former queen to Emma, "Looks like it's you and me Princess".

She quickly finished the spiced apple slices on her plate and her tea and then got to her feet to go and search the castle with the wolf.

It seemed odd to think that her friend occasionally had four feet and a tail, but it didn't make her fear the woman in the slightest.

Before leaving the room she quickly leaned down and kissed Regina, then smirked at the surprised look on her face and followed Red out the door.

"You Like apples? I thought they were banned in the castle?" the brunette asked, the crease in her brow betraying her confusion.

"Oh I love apples" she replied with a laugh "The first time I had one it was a gift from Regina, before she knew who I was".

"It was from Regina?!" Red exclaimed, " You took an apple from the Evil Queen, and you actually ate it? Even knowing who she was?".

"I already knew she had feelings for me and wouldn't try to hurt me. And curiosity was gnawing at me, BECAUSE it was forbidden" she answered, still laughing.

"It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted" she added.

It took them nearly two hours to find a mirror that was small enough for Red to carry hidden.

The one they finally found was tucked away in a drawer and was only slightly bigger than the brunette's open palm.

Even though it had been hours, Emma was still thinking about apples. It seemed to her as if she had just added to the list of "forbidden fruits" that she loved, the thought made her smirk as they walked into the room where Regina was preparing the spell.

Her lover looked up and caught the look on her face.

"Really Emma, surprising me wasn't funny enough for you to still be smirking at it hours later" the former queen admonished.

That made the blonde chuckle.

"That wasn't exactly why. Remind me to tell you later".

Turning, she caught Red rolling her eyes at what she must have guessed was a sexual reference of some sort.

It was just that so many of the things she loved were in some way either taboo or outright forbidden to her because of her gender, her position, or her parents.

"You found a mirror?" Regina asked, pulling Emma's attention back to her.

"Yes, I hope this will do" she replied as she handed the small trinket over to her lover.

The other woman smiled "It's perfect".

"Is there anything else I can help with?" the blonde offered.

"No, this is all I needed. Just make sure you both stay out of the circle. If you cross it you will disrupt the magic".

And with that Regina turned back to the table and various items she had assembled in the center of the room, her attention so focused that it seemed like she had forgotten that they even existed.

With nothing else to do Emma wandered to the window to look out for a moment before walking up and down the rows of books along the walls and selecting one at random, seeing that it wasn't in common language she put it back and chose another.

After finding a book that she could read, Emma wandered to a seat near the window and began to skim slowly. Reading enough of each page to see what the spell would do she passed the time easily, only pausing now and again to listen to Regina's rhythmic soft chanting.

It occurred to her that most of the magic she had seen Regina do did not involve any words and she made a note to ask the brunette about it later.

While Regina was working on the mirror spell, Emma finished skimming through two books and was about to choose a third when she noticed that the chanting had stopped.

Looking over she saw the former evil queen pause, bent over with her face close to the table, focused on the mirror and though Emma could not see what Regina was looking at the woman finally straightened and then slumped into the nearest chair.

Sometime during the spell Red had left the room to go and have a nap, so it was just the two of them.

She crossed from the bookshelves to where Regina was sitting and knelt in front of her, placing one hand gently on the brunette's knee.

"Are you ok?".

"I'll be fine. New or unfamiliar spells always take a bit more energy" she answered.

Absently she began to rub the brunette's knee. "Mmmm" Regina murmured.

Standing, Emma leaned over the other woman and kissed her softly.

"You can do that anytime" Regina responded, slipping her fingers into Emma's hair.

"Good, because I intend to" she growled, voice gone husky with desire.

"God, you are insatiable" Regina exclaimed with a small laugh.

Suddenly Regina's expression changed.

"How are we going to make this work? I mean, if we succeed in convincing your parents that you and I are together because we love each other, . . . ." she trailed off for a moment, "I can't expect you to just abandon your family and your responsibilities, but I don't know if I can live near your parents, or if they will ever be able to tolerate me in the kingdom".

Regina looked crestfallen, as if a terrible weight were pressing upon her.

"Hey, hey, we don't have to think about that right now" she reassured her lover. But now that it had been spoken it was weighing on her mind as well.

All of the stories her mother had told her of the Evil Queen flooded, unwanted, into her mind and she began to wonder if her parents had the capacity to forgive and forget the past and allow her to have her happy ending with the woman she loved.

What would she choose if it came down to giving up Regina, or giving up her parents and her kingdom?

"Where's the wolf?" Regina's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"She went to take a nap before she has to set out for the castle".

"Okay, it's a long way, we'll let her sleep a while longer" the brunette said softly.

Moving around the woman's knees Emma sat on her lap, making herself comfortable and cuddling into her lover's body as the brunette's arms came around her almost automatically.

"Mmmmm, this feels soo good" Emma murmured.

Even though it was still early afternoon it somehow felt like it had been a very long day.

Regina kissed her jaw and then tipped her head down so that their eyes met.

"When I knew Snow, she was a fierce fighter, and devoted to doing what was best for the kingdom, which was being rid of me. At the time I wondered why she allowed me to go into exile instead of executing me. I need to know just how much she has changed over the years".

Emma thought for a few minutes.

"Well I don't remember so much from when I was little, but she does seem to have grown more understanding, and maybe mellow?" she wasn't truly sure if mellow was the right word in light of the fact that Snow was even now hunting for them, but it was the best she could think of just then.

Regina continued to look at her expectantly, so she went on.

"I think that she is capable of being open minded, more so now than she used to be" the blonde was remembering a scene in throne room with a pair of women who loved each other and how she had convinced her mother to save one of the women, whose family wanted to beat her for being "unnatural".

"She might be able to accept that I prefer women, what we will need to work on is convincing her that you have changed".

Regina nodded "How likely do you think she is to trust Red's word that she knows where we might be, and is willing to help their hunting party?".

Emma thought about that seriously for a minute.

"If Red can approach them in the castle, with Kailey to introduce her, they should be more willing to trust her. Kailey is Red's cousin, and she has worked in the castle for most of her life. She's as loyal as they come."

"Does anyone in the castle know that you visited me?" Regina asked cautiously.

"No, definitely not" Emma answered emphatically.

"Emma, I wasn't asking if you had betrayed my secret, only if anyone might be able to collaborate the fact that you visited me before I abducted you" Regina replied.

"Oh, right" Emma answered, deflating. If only she had talked to Kailey about Regina, they might have had another ally within the castle to help convince her parents that she actually loved Regina.

But she hadn't trusted anyone to know that she had met the Evil Queen, let alone that she had fallen in love with the woman.

Kailey had grown up on all the same stories that she had, if Emma had ever so much as hinted that she knew where the Evil Queen was, it was more than likely that her friend would have reacted by telling Queen Snow that her daughter was in danger, which might have resulted in Snow having Regina imprisoned again, or worse.

No, she thought, she had made the only possible choice in keeping her relationship with Regina a secret. There were plenty of people around the castle who knew that the princess preferred women, but she wasn't sure how much that detail might help them in convincing her parents that this was her choice.

Some of what she was thinking must have shown on her face, because Regina laid a hand atop hers.

"It's okay Emma, we all make the choices that we think are best at the time. Keeping you preferences from your parents was what you felt you needed to do".

She turned her hands over and clasped the brunette's. "I have seen how people treat those who love people of the same gender, I have seen how bad it can get when it spills over into a royal audience for justice. My mother doesn't exactly agree, but I believe that she can be made to see reason on that".

The princess paused, looking down at her feet. "I should have told them a long time ago. I should have pushed for laws in the kingdom to protect people. I failed them, I failed US. Things could have gone so much easier if they just knew about me before".

Emma didn't even realize how overwrought she was getting until Regina pulled her into a tight hug and told her "This isn't your fault".

"This has more to do with who I am, who I WAS, than anything you could have done" the brunette finished.

Emma shook her head, she was realizing that she wanted to be queen, if for no other reason than to make life better for those in her kingdom who were different, those like her, and those like Red. The problem was, she couldn't see a way to make that work without giving up Regina, and that was something she wouldn't, couldn't, do.

No, she had fought so hard to get to this point, there was no giving up on what she wanted now.

The two of them just sat together for a long while in silence, each thinking of what needed to happen.

Somehow, someway, they would need to show that Emma was well and unhurt, then maybe they could begin trying to show Snow that Regina was not the same woman she had banished from the kingdom so long ago. And that was only the start.

In a Different Land

The Queen looked down on her visitor as though he were a noisome bug that might cause her some trouble.

"What are YOU doing here?" she asked imperiously.

He giggled madly "Why I've come to give you a gift. Don't you want it?" he answered as if she should have been overjoyed to see him after all this time.

Her guards shifted nervously around her dais. They didn't know who the strange little man was, but their queen's reaction to him was most unusual.

She pursed her lips. Gifts from him always came with a price, but it could be quite . . . . . messy to refuse a gift from him.

"You know you want it" he singsonged cajolingly.

Rolling her eyes she gave in and motioned him closer. "And what is your gift for me?" she asked as he perched on the arm of her throne.

He propped his hand under his chin, grinning like a madman.

"I bring news" he cackled "of love".

For a moment she couldn't think of what he could possibly be referring to, but then her eyes widened. Could he be talking about who she thought he was?

"Go on" she prompted regally.

The odd little man leaned close and began whispering in her ear about the "gift" he had bestowed on another woman, without telling her, of course.

Then he told her about the fates and lives of her enemies, and how those lives had recently begun to intertwine.

Before he had even finished he rose sharply from her throne. "How dare you?!" she roared, alarming her guards to action.

But even as the guards ringed them and drew weapons the little man vanished in a swirl of smoke.

Regina's POV

They had woken the wolf at dusk. Emma coached her on what to say to Snow so that the queen would listen and believe her. While she had made up a packet of food for her journey.

Red would need to be both their ally inside the castle, and their ears and eyes, to keep the royal couple from getting too close before they were ready.

Regina wasn't sure that the woman was up to the task, but Emma had faith that her new friend could do it.

"If you travel fast you may reach the castle by mid-day tomorrow" she said as she moved to their side.

"Well I wasn't planning on taking the scenic route" the wolf snapped.

Emma laid a hand on her friend's arm. "She didn't mean anything by that Red, don't take the bait. Remember, we all need to be on the same side here".

Then she aimed a pointed stern look Regina's way, her way of telling Regina to behave herself.

The look was mostly wasted, Regina was having too much fun playing with the wolf while she could.

When she handed the bundled food to Red the wolf sniffed and then arched an eyebrow at her.

"You gave me an apple?!" she asked incredulously.

"And what is wrong with that? Emma loves apples; don't you?" her tone dared the wolf to accuse her of something untoward.

"I do, when they aren't an open threat" Red growled.

Regina let out a heavy sigh "I promise you, there is nothing wrong with the apple I've given you. My poison apple tree was destroyed a long time ago".

The younger woman eyed her suspiciously. Emma had rolled her eyes and turned her back on the spectacle, washing her hands of the whole thing.

At least the blonde wasn't too upset at her over this.

"And I'm sure you would tell us if you had another tree of poison apples?" the wolf countered.

Regina opened her mouth, too stunned to speak for a moment.

"Well, if I did, I would not be wasting one of those apples on someone who is supposed to be helping us" she finally snapped.

The fact was, she could bring back her infamous tree, if she truly wanted to. In her possession was a locket, from the trunk, which contained three seeds from the original tree, all she would need to grow another one.

Under normal circumstances it would take many years to mature and produce fruit, but with magic she could have the tree mature overnight.

It was strange that even when she had thought that Emma had been working with her mother on some sort of revenge, she had never considered growing a new tree of poison apples.

In fact, she had forgotten all about the seeds until Red had mentioned her having another tree.

She had been perfectly honest though, when she told Red that she wouldn't waste a cursed apple on someone who was helping her.

What she didn't care to mention, was that she was already beginning to think of the wolf as a sort of friend.

Red huffed in defeat "Fine. I should be going".

She turned to Emma "Kailey will be worried sick about you princess, I think if I explain things to her she may be able to help. If I have your permission?".

Emma paused, looking to Regina, before answering slowly. "I think that we might be able to trust Kailey, but only if she can be convinced that I am well and am with Regina by choice".

Red chewed her lip for a moment, "How much does Kailey know?".

"She knows I prefer women. And that I snuck out of the castle more over the last few months".

Emma cast about the room for a minute.

"Give me a moment and I will write a note for her, she should recognize my handwriting".

Regina wondered that a simple stable girl would be able to read, but decided that that was a question for another day.

A few minutes later Red was on her way, a scrap bit of parchment tucked into the bundle with her food. Regina hadn't bothered to ask just what Emma had written for her friend, she trusted that whatever it was would not lead anyone to them, or make anyone think that Emma was there against her will.

Now she was carefully picking books from the shelves to use in teaching Emma a little bit of magic. Though if she were honest with herself, she would be doing it under the pretense of just teaching her words to look for in their search for spells that might slow down the blonde's parents down and help to open their eyes.

As far as Regina knew, Emma knew nothing about the magic inside of her.