Emma was oblivious to the conversations going on around her as she ate. Right after her confession to Regina, they were interrupted by her mother of all people before Regina could answer her. Regina had practically pushed her out the door to see what her mother wanted when all Emma wanted to do was stay and talk about it. Now she wondered if Regina would give her the opportunity.

She had glanced up a couple of times while they ate their dinner, but each time Regina's eyes were on her own plate or else on whoever she was conversing with.

It annoyed Emma that Regina could act so calm; act like Emma hadn't poured her feelings out in front of her. She was sure Regina had feelings for her. What she was unsure of was what those feelings were and if Regina would act on them.

Yes Regina was with Robin and that would be a big obstacle to get past, but it wasn't impossible in Emma's mind.

She looked over at Regina once more – still no reaction.

If Regina thought she was going to ignore Emma or blow this off she was going to learn quickly that Emma didn't like being dismissed, especially by her.

Emma felt her anger rising. Things in her life had not been fair – from being abandoned by her parents, growing up in the foster system, having a child while in prison and having to give him up. It seemed like fate was always playing against her. Even with her sacrifice to keep Regina safe from the Dark One's magic, she still ended up with the short stick.

Regina had fought to get her back. She had put aside her relationship with Robin and had worked with her parents and Henry to get Emma back yet now she was once again in Robin's arms.

In the immediate aftermath of breaking the Dark One's curse Emma had needed time –not just away from Regina, but from everyone. She had a lot to deal with as she came to grips with the things she had done while she was the Dark One.

At least when she was the Dark One and she would get angry or emotional she had the magic as an outlet. She used it to keep herself from feeling the emotions in full force. Once that power was gone though it was only her left and she felt ill-equipped to deal with it and she didn't want to burden anyone else with it, especially not Regina. Regina had gone through her own journey of redemption and she didn't need to be reminded of her own past misdeeds while Emma processed her own.

Now as she thought about how they had returned from Camelot and Robin had put his arm around Regina's waist, she felt the jealousy that at the time barely registered. She liked Robin, but she couldn't help but fault him for how he had handled all of this with Regina. Why did he deserve a second and third chance?

"Emma."

She looked up to see Regina looking at her and so were others at the table and she wondered what she had missed.

"What?"

"I said if you are quite done eating I would like to go over some plans with you."

"Done?" she said looking at her half-full plate knowing she wouldn't finish it anyway. "Here kid finish this off." She slid the plate over to him and stood up, following Regina from the room. She was led back to Regina's home office and once inside Regina closed the door behind them.

"Are you ok?" Regina asked. Emma could see the clear concern in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine."

"That didn't seem fine out there."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked, wondering if she had honestly missed something that had happened.

"You were sitting out there for several minutes with your eyes closed and you were bending the fork with your finger," Regina said. "I recognize anger when I see it. So I will ask again, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Emma said taking a seat. "Just peachy."

"Clearly," Regina said crossing her arms. "Should I assume your anger is with me?"

"I'm not angry," Emma said although she needn't have bothered as her voice betrayed her emotions. In fact seeing Regina standing there like some scolding teacher wasn't doing anything to improve her disposition. "Fine, I'm angry, happy now?"

Regina sighed. "You are going to keep getting angry if you don't find some way of channeling that anger. I didn't offer to teach you magic merely as way to get you to take responsibility for it. Emotions fuel your magic, same as me and trust me when I say you don't want to become reliant on anger to make your magic work."

"I don't need a lecture. I was the Dark One after all, which I think trumps an Evil Queen throwing a vengeful hissy fit."

Emma wasn't sure why she was being antagonistic toward Regina, except she wanted to see the cracks in the impeccable composure of hers. Regina's guard was up and that wasn't the Regina she wanted to talk to right now.

"If you want to act like a petulant child, I will be leaving," Regina said, whirling around and opening the door, which immediately slammed shut. She turned back to Emma who was sitting there with a smile on her face.

"See your majesty, I do know some magic."

"This isn't some joke," Regina said advancing on her. "Your magic isn't a joke and it isn't something you should play around with. Do you think because you have rid yourself of the Dark One's curse that all is well now? I didn't think you were that idiotic, but apparently I am wrong."

"What do you care?" Emma said standing. They were within inches of each other now. "Why did you care then? Why did you help my parents bring me back?"

"As if I could sit back and do nothing when you were the idiot that took on the curse in the first place. It was coming for me at that point and you should have let it take me."

"It would have killed you."

"We don't know that. We don't know that I couldn't have fought back."

"Yes we do," Emma said. "It would have killed you and do you think I could have stood by and let that happen? I couldn't. Give me that choice a hundred more times and I would make the same one."

Regina backed away from her. "You made that choice in order to give me my chance at a happy ending. You gave me that chance to be with Robin."

Emma let that sentence sink in. The way Regina said it was filled with something she wasn't expecting – regret.

"You said your happy ending wasn't some guy," Emma said.

"But when you did it, when you saved me, that was your intention, was it not?"

Emma sat back down, trying to collect her thoughts. There had been so much turmoil leading up to that moment. Learning what her parents had done, finding Lilly, trying to make things work with Killian – it all seemed like it happened a lifetime ago. When she had taken on the Dark One's curse she had done it to protect Regina but as the Dark One, her thoughts about Regina had been muted in a way.

If anything she saw Regina as an adversary once more.

Then once she was free of it, she hadn't wanted to be around Regina.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to give you your chance with Robin," she said finally. "I did it for you. All I thought about was how I needed to save you. I didn't know at the time that … I wasn't sure what it was that I felt for you. But I'm sure now."

"I don't know what you want me to say in response to that," Regina said.

"I want you to say you will give me a chance," Emma said. "There is something here between us, you know it and I know it, so why are we continuing to waste our time dancing around it?"

"Because I am with Robin."

"Is that how it is then?" Emma said standing once more. "He sleeps with your sister, impregnates her and none of that matters to you because he's your supposed soul mate."

"Careful Miss Swan," Regina said. The matter of her sister and the child she had with Robin was still a sore subject with her. When Emma had become the Dark One, Regina had been able to focus on that and not on her sister. Afterward though, there was no avoiding it, especially after Zelena gave birth to the little boy – her nephew, Roland's half brother.

Thankfully, Zelena had chosen not to continue her fight to destroy Regina once her son was born. Regina had to admit that seeing Zelena with the child – it was much like when she first held Henry. Zelena had found someone to love and decided that should be her focus. She had left Storybrooke and lived in another small town in Maine with him.

Part of the reason she had chosen Robin to lead the excursions to get supplies was because he was now used to traveling outside of Storybrooke as he and Roland would go at least once a month so they could spend time with his son whom they had named Vincent.

"I'm sorry," Emma said. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No you shouldn't have."

"Do you love him? Because if you do, that's all you have to say and I will step aside. I do want you to be happy, even if it isn't with me."

Regina didn't answer at first and Emma tried not to get her hopes up as the silence dragged on.

"I … I don't love him like I should love him. I'm not in love with him," Regina said and for the first time she took a seat. Emma sat beside her. "I don't know how to end things with him. Like you said, we are supposed to be soul mates. How do I not take that into consideration?"

"You feel trapped?"

"I don't know if trapped is the right word for it. He's trying too much," Regina said. "He's trying to make amends and I feel like … I feel like it doesn't matter, like making amends doesn't matter because he's … he's not my happy ending. But when you go through life like I have, constantly making the wrong decisions, I guess you could say I am trying to be more thoughtful about this one. If I break it off with him then it's over for good."

Emma took Regina's hand in hers. "I'm not saying it would be easy, but I would be here for you in any capacity you needed me to be, even if it only as a friend."

"I'm not prepared to be anything but that with you," Regina said.

Emma nodded. "I will take what I can get."

"Good, now despite my long nap this afternoon, I'm still kind of tired," she said standing.

"Are friends allowed to share the same bed?" Emma asked, giving her best puppy dog eyes.

"I suppose it beats sharing a bed with one of the dwarves," Regina said. "But remember, stay on your side of the bed."

"I promise to try."

…

Regina woke first that next morning, unsurprised by Emma's arm being draped across her midsection. She could feel the blonde pressed against her back, their legs intertwined. So much for staying on her side of the bed, Regina thought. Although she had to admit she didn't believe for a second that Emma would actually maintain her distance.

Two years ago it would have been unfathomable to her that she and Emma would end up like this. Yet, since Emma had come into her life no one had been able to capture her interest as much as this young woman did.

After years of boring monotony, Regina found a challenge from one Emma Swan. No one knew how to push her like Emma did, and now she was finding that no one quite cared for her the way Emma did.

Still, she wasn't ready to move forward with Emma. For one, she did need to handle the situation with Robin and she wasn't lying to Emma when she said she didn't know how to do that. She had never really had to break up with someone. When that someone was supposed to be your soul mate, it made it even harder.

If Emma hadn't made her move, Regina wondered if she would even be thinking about breaking things off with Robin. And was that fair – breaking things off with him knowing Emma was there waiting in the wings. Shouldn't she want to break up with him without that being a factor?

She wished there was someone else she could talk to about these things, but she didn't know who that would be. She could talk to Tink about it, but Tink had been so excited when she learned that Robin was her soul mate. In a way, she felt like she was validating what Tink went through for her by being with Robin so no she couldn't speak to Tink about it.

The one person she could think of was the one person she couldn't talk to about it – Emma. She knew where Emma stood on the whole thing so it would be a pointless conversation.

The alarm went off on her phone and she reached over and turned it off. She felt Emma strengthen her hold on her. "Did you hit the snooze button?" Emma asked.

"No," Regina said trying not to smile at Emma's reaction. "It's time to get up. We need to check the water levels."

Emma groaned and turned over on her other side as Regina got up. She knew that Emma would continue to lay there while she got ready.

She let her lay there up until the point Regina was fully dressed and ready to leave. She shook Emma's shoulder to rouse her from the sleep she had fallen back into.

"I'm leaving. I will be out on the east end checking on things. I will call if your magical services are needed."

Emma rolled over. "Is your magic recharged?"

"Yes, but it's probably best if I didn't use it too much or else when the others get back, bringing down the barrier and putting it back up again will only wear me out again."

The fact she hadn't said when Robin gets back didn't go unnoticed.

"Ok, call me if you need magic," Emma said. "I think I am going to give myself another hour to sleep before getting up."

"Feeling lazy this morning?"

"No, someone just likes to hog the covers so I woke up feeling cold. At that point I had no choice but to seek out some body heat."

"Is that the excuse you are going to go with?"

"Hey it's not an excuse. Apparently the queen doesn't like to share the blankets."

"A queen shouldn't have to," Regina said.

She left Emma to her extra hour and she stopped in at Henry's room only to find him sprawled out in bed. She shook her head, realizing his sleep habits definitely took after his biological mother. Walking downstairs she heard the dwarves already bustling, ready to head out for the day. Outside of Sleepy, the dwarves were often up and out of the house before even Regina.

She appreciated all the help they had given during the flood but she would be more appreciative when they took themselves out of her home. The living room was going to need a firm cleaning afterward and possibly new carpet.

Stopping in the kitchen, she made herself a couple pieces of toast with jam and ate quickly before heading out. The sky was clear for the first time in what seemed like forever. Before going to sleep she had checked the weather forecast and it was in their favor as there was no rain on the horizon for the week so far. She knew that could easily change however which meant being prepared regardless.

Reaching her destination she got out of the car and even as she approached the sandbag wall she could tell the water had receded. Unlike other mornings, those on post had a more relaxed attitude to them and Regina realized the extra time off yesterday that Emma had told everyone to take was most likely a very good idea.

"How are things here?" she asked.

"Good, water's down a couple of inches from over night," the foreman in charge said. Regina recognized him as one of the street crews that the village employed.

"That is good news Michael," she said, earning an appreciative look in return for knowing his name. People could say what they wanted about her but there wasn't a person in this town who she didn't know their name. Of course she had 28 years to learn them.

She couldn't actually see the water because the wall was too high, but she hoped that the couple inches from overnight would be a couple of more inches during the day. She heard someone say something like 'ask her' and she turned back to Michael.

"Was there something else?" she asked.

Michael scratched the back of his head as if asking her anything was the last thing he wanted to do right now. "Well there was some talk last night at the shelter," he said, but then abruptly stopped.

"What kind of talk?"

"Well we all want to get back into our homes."

"I am sure you do," Regina said. "And we will get everyone back into their homes."

"Yeah, I know, it's just there was some talk."

She resisted the urge to tell him to spit it out.

"People were wondering if you could do something to speed it up," the guy who was standing behind Michael said.

"Speed it up how?" she asked.

"With your magic," Michael said. "People were talking about how you were able to use your magic to hold back the water while the walls were built and rescuing those people and well, people are wondering now that the rain has stopped if you could make the water go away."

The thought that she could use her magic to make the water go away hadn't occurred to her. It seemed silly now to her that she hadn't thought about it and she considered now how she could do it – if she could do it.

She saw all the men who were there looking at her with expectation in their eyes. She looked at the wall and then up at the building next to it. "Is that building secure? Can someone get me on the roof?" she asked.

"Yeah, we can do that," Michael said and she saw them all looking excitedly.

"I don't know if I can do anything, but I need to be able to see the water first before I can even attempt anything," she explained to them. Even as she let them lead the way, she knew Emma was going to kill her when she found out about this.

It took a little while to get up on the roof but once they did, Regina now could see the water that surrounded the houses and buildings on this end of town. The problem she could see was that she couldn't merely make the water disappear. It had to go somewhere, but where?

Freezing it would be an option, although not really a specialty of hers, plus it would still require a lot of work to then remove the ice.

"Evaporation," she whispered.

"What?" Michael said.

"Evaporation," she said more loudly. "We need the water to evaporate. In order to evaporate it needs a heat source. Stand back."

She waited for everyone to move back and she called up a fireball into her hand and threw it at the water. As it hit there was a hiss of steam as the water in that spot evaporated.

"Did it work?" someone behind her asked.

"It's going to take a lot more than one fireball," she said. "Would someone be so kind as to call the sheriff and ask her to come up here?"

…

They had to wait for nearly 30 minutes for Emma to get there and once she arrived, Regina asked the men to wait downstairs while she discussed the situation with Emma.

"Absolutely not," Emma said after Regina got done explaining and then demonstrating. "Are you crazy? You just said this morning that you need to take it easy with the magic."

"I know what I said, but these people are looking to me to do something about this."

"No what they are looking for is an easy fix to their problem," Emma said. "Magic can't solve their problem; they are going to have wait for the waters to recede like everyone else in the state. I can't believe you would even entertain this idea."

"I'm entertaining it because I am the mayor of this town and as such I have to do anything in my power to help its citizens. People are tired of sleeping on other people's floors or in cots at a shelter. They want to return to their homes, and if I can hasten that return, why wouldn't I consider it?"

Emma grabbed both of Regina's upper arms. "Listen to me; don't give me this I need to save the town bullshit. That may work on those people down there, but it's not going to work on me. The only reason you are even considering this is because you feel guilty for the stuff you used your magic for in the past. You don't need to do this in order to be redeemed. If they can't accept you for who you are now then to hell with them. You aren't doing this."

"Please Emma," she said. "I can't do this, not alone. I don't have the power to. I want to do this. I want to be able to give this to the people because yes, I have done so many bad things in my life and they paid the price for it. They paid the price with 28 years of their lives. Think of how many people are in this town, think of how many years that totals up to. That is what I owe."

Emma stepped away from her. "You don't owe them this," she said. "You can't do it. You tell me to take responsibility for my magic, well what about you? It was just yesterday that you were hit with the magic whammy for bringing down the barrier. You haven't recharged enough to try something like this, and I won't help you. Ask me to help in some other way, but not this."

Regina walked past her and headed back down through the building and Emma followed, feeling relieved. Once they were back on the street, Regina approached the men.

"I'm afraid that due to my use of magic with lowering the barrier, I don't have the power right now to attempt this," she said and there were sounds of disappointment from those who were there. If Regina wasn't mistaken there were more people now than there had been and they all looked downtrodden by the news. "I'm sorry."

Knowing there was nothing else to be said at the moment, she walked to her car, ignoring Emma's presence even as the other woman followed her. She got into her car but Emma stopped her from closing the door.

"It was the right thing to do," Emma said.

"Then why do I suddenly feel like the Evil Queen again?"

"Come on, don't be like that."

"I have things to get done Miss Swan, if you'll excuse me."

….

Regina sat at her desk in her office later that day recording the results of the water levels on her map when the phone rang. She saw it was Robin and for a moment she thought about not answering it, but knew she had to.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey, how are things back there?"

"Good," she said. "The water is receding even if it is doing so at a snail's pace. How are things out there with the rest of the world?"

"About the same. Lots of people are homeless or waiting to see if their homes survived," he said. Regina detected sadness in this voice and felt bad for having to send him and the others out beyond the confines of their village. She could only imagine what they were running into out there in their search for supplies.

"I'm sure other towns have banded together just as ours has."

There was a pause and for a moment Regina thought maybe they had been disconnected.

"I don't know how to say this," he said.

"Say what?"

"Zelena called me right after I left town," he said. "Where she lives … her place was flooded too and she and Vincent, they don't have anywhere to go. He's my son."

There wasn't really anything else to say, but she took a moment to calm herself before speaking. "Yes he is, and if he needs help you should be there for him."

"It's not just that. Look, I took a detour, Vincent is with me right now. So is Zelena."

"You're bringing them back here with you, aren't you?"

"Regina …"

"No, you were right to go pick them up. They are family," she said. "Perhaps by the time you return the waters will recede enough for people to return to their homes or at least start the process. Vincent and Zelena can stay at my place or the shelter, wherever they feel more comfortable."

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Robin said.

"I know," she responded. "Vincent is your responsibility though and he's my nephew so bring him home. We will deal the rest of it later. I have things to do now, so give my nephew a kiss for me."

"I will. I can't wait to see you," Robin said.

"Be careful out there," she said hanging up. It took all her resolve not to throw the phone against the wall. She stood there staring at the map and the water levels while replaying that conversation over in her head. While Zelena may no longer be actively wishing for her downfall, the thought of her being in the same town as her made her blood boil. With Zelena and Vincent outside of borders of Storybrooke, she didn't have to think about Robin and her. Now it would be unavoidable.

She felt the anger and resentment building inside of her, and she knew that she needed to do something to release its hold on her. Spinning around she quickly left.

When she arrived at the shelter, she looked at the people who had been crammed in there, forced to make this a temporary home as the waters filled theirs. She began weaving through the cots and makeshift rooms of hanging sheets looking for someone in particular. Finally in a back corner she found Michael.

"Madame Mayor, what I can do for you?" he said getting up from the cot where he had been sitting next to a young girl reading her a book. She recognized the girl as his daughter, Sandy.

"It's Regina, not Madame Mayor," she said. "Come on, I need your assistance."

"Sure, what with?"

"Getting me back up on that roof," she said.

"You're going to do it?" he asked in surprise. "But what about what you said this morning?"

"I have some excess energy to burn off."

"Ok, let me get my shoes on and we can go."

…

Once again Regina stood on the roof overlooking the water. It was dark now but she could still see the water. It looked like a vast ocean of ink from her standpoint. Michael stood back from her, giving her space to do what she had come here to do.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it, have expecting it to be a text from Robin. Instead it was Emma.

"I hope you aren't still mad," it read.

She put it away. Emma was the last person she needed to think about now, because if she did, she would know what a truly foolish idea this was. Instead, she thought about Zelena and what she had wrought.

This time she didn't call up a small fireball. This time she spread her hands out in front her and made a flow of fire erupt from her hands. The hiss from it hitting the water was all she could hear as she poured more of her anger into her magic. The beam of fire grew stronger, illuminating the dark around her.

She kept it going even as she felt her knees weakening. She kept it going even as she felt blood trickle from her nose to her lips. She kept it going until the darkness took her and she collapsed.

To be continued in part three - Still Waters