Option B: Subtext

Later that day, the group were walking along the road toward their next destination. Meanwhile, Emma was still fuming at her past life's little 'prank', even if it hadn't been intended as such. Unfortunately, it all seemed to stem from one giant misconception on the part of the 'locals'.

"So, how long have you two been partners?" Gabrielle asked, starting conversation in hopes of making the time pass quicker.

"Some days it seems like lifetimes," Regina replied with a teasing smirk.

"But actually not for very long," Emma added. "We've known each other for about… almost four years now?" Regina nodded. "We started off as, I guess you could've called us rivals. It is really complicated, but let's just say we really did not get along, but we kept butting heads. Eventually, we found some common ground, and Regina had… skills that I did not, but needed to know, and pretty much since then, yeah I guess we have been sort of partners."

"In the loosest sense of the word," her companion added.

Gabrielle gave them a once over before smirking and sharing a look with Xena.

"What?" Emma prompted. She may not have recognized the 'face' from an outside perspective, but she could read the emotion behind it just as well.

"Nothing," she said, facing forward.

"Uh huh," she said back sarcastically.

"Well," Gabrielle sighed, relenting a bit, "You asked why we… put you to bed? Well, I thought it was obvious to everyone that you two are very close. I just thought that…"

"You just thought what?" the other blond interrupted.

"That you two were 'True Amazons'," Virgil laughed.

Both of the women from the future blinked and had to puzzle out unfamiliar phrase. Taking context clues from the other women, however, quickly filled in the gaps.

"A crude, if somewhat honest response," Eve admitted, refusing to meet the strangers eyes. "You do somewhat resemble the stereotype. Especially with Emma's strength."

"You just don't dress like Amazons," Xena added her two cents. "But you sure do act like them. Especially the original 'man-hater' versions."

"I… we do not!" Emma hotly replied.

"So you're not a couple?" Gabrielle pressed.

"What? No!" they both shouted this time, both their cheeks going red.

"Could've fooled us," Xena remarked with an insufferable smirk on her face.

"Right back at you then," Regina snapped, trying to put their inquisitors on the defensive, by going on the offensive. "Are the two of you," she pointed at Xena and Gabrielle, "a couple? You certainly seem close enough that one could make assumptions. Well?"

"That really isn't any of your business," Xena deflected the question.

"And our relationship is your business?" Regina countered effectively.

"If you're volunteering, I'm not stopping you," Xena shot back.

"So fulfilling your curiosity and answering your questions, is volunteering information about our personal lives, is it? Why not answer our questions in turn, my dear?"

"I'm not your 'dear' anything, you,,,!" Xena turned and almost attacked, but Gabrielle surged forward and held her friend and soulmate back, while Emma did the same for hers, though with a single hand on the shoulder instead.

"Xena," Gabrielle said one word and it was enough to calm the Warrior Princess.

"Wow, Regina," Emma said, "I know you know how to push people's buttons, but maybe you want to back it off a bit? We don't have to be friends, but at the very least let's stay allies, all right? Which means not antagonizing each other, OK?"

"Of course," the dark-eyed brunette replied, tugging and straightening out the jacket of her pant suit. "I'm merely suggesting a simple matter of tit for tat, that is all."

"Yeah, by getting under Xena's nerves," she remarked.

Once emotions were settled, they quickly moved on to make up for any lost time, but it wasn't that long before Emma's own curiosity got the better of her and she had to ask, "So what is it that makes you think Regina and I are a couple? You haven't known us for very long, and at least with you two, your reputation precedes you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Xena snapped.

"Have you read her scrolls?" Emma replied. They all were forced to nod their heads in acknowledgement of that.

"Not to mention the reinterpretations by the bards in Rome," Eve couldn't help commenting.

"Uh, moving back to my original question?" Emma said quickly.

"Well, mostly it is in how you two look at each other," Gabrielle answered. "There are these… looks… between you two sometimes, and it just, well it carries a lot of subtext is all I can say about it really."

"At least with Mother and Gabrielle, there is no sense of unresolved sexual tension," Eve pointed out, having seen the same thing. "Merely a genuine love and friendship and open trust. Between you two, there is respect, but also an undefined energy that hints at more than what is probably there. There is love and friendship and trust as well, but…"

"You look like you've got the hots for each other, but won't admit it," Xena stated, keeping her gaze forward and on the road ahead. "Not to each other, not to others, and not even to yourselves."

"There are also the looks of open concern," Virgil added. "For one another."

"And when we first met, you did a lot of silent communication with your eyes and expressions, and then a lot more whispering," said Xena.

"Mostly it was just a lot of 'looks' and little things that screamed real loud about you being… well, more than mere acquaintances," Gabrielle concluded.

Regina looked over at Emma, a single eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity, with a bit of a questioning smirk around her mouth. Emma looked back at Regina, her mouth turned down into a pout that could be described as nothing but "cute" no matter who you are. After a few seconds, they realized what they were doing and quickly turned away from one another, almost facing entirely different directions.

The others in the group couldn't help laughing, or at least quietly sniggering, at the pair.

-~O~-

They stopped by the river in the late afternoon for a meal, seeing as they would reach their destination, Balthazar's castle, before nightfall, but not even hardened warriors and heroes could walk all day without stopping to eat and rest for a little while. Seeking refuge from the constant-judging-presence of the others, Emma and Regina went and promised to get their early evening meal and do some fishing in the river. With the reformed Evil Queen's magic, it was quite simple and finished within minutes, giving the pair some time to actually rest and talk.

"So," Emma started, as she soaked her feet in the sandy shore of the river's edge. "They mistook us for a couple. A genuinely, in love, 'True Amazon' couple. Does that seriously mean what I think it means?"

"I'm afraid so," Regina replied, massaging her feet as she sat upon a fallen log further up the riverbank. "Although I do not remember encountering that particular term in any of my… memories, I still have the sense of understanding what it means. You do know that there were genuine lesbian couples among the Amazons. Although, I doubt they outnumbered those that preferred the company of men by that large of a margin."

"Yep," Emma acknowledged. "I also know that word hasn't been invented yet. Sappho, the one that inspired the whole thing was still alive, what? Ten, fifteen years ago? She may even still be alive on the island of Lesbos. My question is, why would a few looks between the two of us lead people to believe that, A, we're gay and, B, we're in love with one another? Or even could be in love?"

"Like Gabrielle said," Regina shrugged. "Subtext. From their point of view, it isn't about what we are saying or doing between each other, it is about what isn't being said and feelings of what should be done but isn't being done at the same time."

"... Huh?" she blurted out, turning to look at her.

"Besides," the dark-haired woman said as though Emma hadn't said anything, "we do love each other. We're soulmates after all."

"Yes," Emma admitted, "Yes, you're right. We love each other. I love you, you love me, and we're all one big happy family."

"Excuse me, did you just quote Barney at me?" the Evil Queen deadpanned.

"But we're not in love," Emma continued, after a glare at the other woman. "So we care about each other. Does that mean we're suddenly nymphomaniac lesbians that can't keep their hands off one another?"

"You're parents are in love," Regina said. "They don't exactly spend all their time making lovey-dovey eyes at one another, or spend every waking moment touching each other and locking themselves away in their bedroom."

"Uh, yeah," Emma turned bright red, remembering one particular incident that still traumatized her to this day, despite it being played off as nothing at the time. "Your point?"

"From an outside perspective, a close friendship, like ours, can seem to be… more. Especially if you're giving me bedroom eyes all the time. And why does your whole face have to light up every time you smile? It is like your eyes are twinkling or something!" she said.

"Bedroom eyes?!" the blond exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Well how about you shooting me those Mona Lisa smiles of yours, huh? And look at what you wear all the time! How can I not look! Geez, don't even get me started on your whole 'evil-seductress' attitude that you've got going on!"

"Oh and your 'innocent street urchin' act is just that? An act?" Regina surged to her feet.

"Tell me the truth, Miss Swan, are you truly so naive and wanting to make everybody happy all of the time, or is it just that you are trying to drive me crazy for some inexplicable reason by making me want to pull you over my knee and spank you?!"

"I don't know, Regina! Maybe it is just that compared to your walking-talking-sex-pot act, a bit of genuine compassion for other people just seems like I'm an innocent street urchin! I mean, seriously, when you get all 'I'm going to Destroy you', you deliberately put extra sway in those killer hips and that voice of yours could melt frozen butter in the Arctic!"

They both stopped, having gotten practically nose to nose and were both breathing heavily from their emotions and words. After having a few moments to think about things, they both came to a mutual decision, one based in the mind rather than gut instincts. They took a step back and got themselves under control.

"So, uh," Emma said, "We're, obviously, not a couple, but everybody else seems to think that we are. Should we… I don't know? Go with it?"

"Become a couple?" Regina scoffed.

"No," she shook her head, her blond curls cascading around her shoulders. "Pretend to be a couple. Like… partners. It would help keep some people from asking questions, ones that we don't want asked. Like, what is our relationship if it isn't romantic or something like that?"

"Hm," the dark-haired sorceress considered the suggestion. "And the reason we can't just call ourselves 'friends'?"

"Back to the uncomfortable questions of who and what we are to one another and other stuff," she answered. "At least with us being… Friends With Benefits, or whatever, it is kinda obvious about why we're 'together' despite all the arguing and stuff we do."

"So, you want to pretend to be in love with me, and I with you?" she clarified.

"Only when the situation calls for it. Like with Balthazar," Emma pointed out.

"You're right," Regina was forced to admit. "Unfortunately. Among other things, he'll want to, and need to know quite a lot about us and our world if he is to truly help us. If pretending to have you as my lover keeps him from pressing too deeply, I'm all for it."

"Great," Emma smiled. "See, we actually agree about something. We're off to a good start. Should, uh, should we, y'know, practice or… something?"

Regina shot her companion a dry look and asked, "Miss Swan, was this entire conversation merely a ploy to… make out with me again?"

"I, no, I, uh…" Emma stammered.

"Because if it is… bravo."

"I, uh… wait!" the blond shook her head. "Whuh?"

"I never saw that suggestion coming," she said. "When I agreed to pretending, I would have expected merely telling people and concocting various stories to support it. But you'd be willing to offer up public displays of affection to drive the point home. Bravo."

"..." Emma stared. "I can't tell if you're making fun of me… or not."

Regina just gave her another of those 'Mona Lisa Smiles' and turned to gather the fish they'd caught, heading back toward the campsite.

"But seriously, wanna practice?"

Continued...