Captain Cobra Swan Christmas AU || Henry isn’t sure what to get Killian for Christmas, until he realizes the best present of all doesn’t have to be wrapped.
happy holidays, @hollyethecurious, from your @onceuponafestivegifting santa!
Here is my @onceuponafestivegifting gift to @lanasfeather!! I hope you had a wonderful holiday period, and that 2018 will be a good year ahead for you.
This is a Hooked Queen story (Regina/Rogers|Hook), with some Regal Believer as always, and a few mentions of Snow and Charming where I could fit it in, considering the setting ^^ I’ve never written Rogers version of Hook before, so I hope I’ve done his character justice for you.
Each Day You’re Still Here
There is a very touching farewell going on between his other self, Emma and Henry. Hook feels his stomach clench as he watches the hugs and murmured words. Terrible memories are pushing to the forefront of his mind - screams of ‘Papa!’, of soul-crushing defeat as his daughter is ripped from his arms, the look on her face the last time he saw her. They are memories he wants to forget as much as he wants to grasp on tightly. Any memory of his daughter brings some small comfort.
Henry may be all grown up, but the lad is still clearly lost and hunting for his place in this world, his own story and happy ending. Hook cannot imagine being realms away from his child instead of witnessing it all unfold first hand – not if there was a choice. But then, perhaps he is projecting heavily onto the situation. Henry is not his child, and these people all have different histories and relationships with each other.
He turns his back on the farewells, and tries not to feel bitter about any of it. In his distraction, it takes him a moment to realize he’s come face-to-face with Regina instead.
She had arrived back at the clearing with Henry earlier, announcing loudly to the world that she was staying too. She looks so similar to the Evil Queen he remembers, but acts very differently. It is clear she is no longer the revenged-crazed woman from his own realm, and yet in some ways, he is more wary of this version. A similarity they DO share, however, is the flair for dramatics – something this Regina had capitalized on as she had stood, hands on hips, and declaring that she was going to help her son on ‘Operation Next Chapter’.
Now, she merely quirks her eyebrow at him, as he stubbornly refuses to turn back around for the farewells. ‘Too many sentiments,’ he whispers at her, feigning a look of disgust. She releases one indelicate snort, before primly turning her attention back to her son, not a word spoken.
In fact, they don’t speak again until the portal has closed and Henry trudges back to them, forlornly.
‘Seeing them leave just makes me miss everyone back home,’ he confesses, and Hook watches as he slings an arm around his mother’s shoulders. She is tiny in comparison.
‘They all miss you too,’ she says, smiling up. ‘Snow and Charming especially. But they’re also very proud of you.’
‘They don’t even know what the lad’s been up to,’ Hook feels the need to interject childishly. Regina shoots him an exasperated look, and he sends her a serene smirk back.
‘Nevertheless, they certainly know what your original plans were, and they’re going to hear all about what you’ve been doing when the others see them again,’ she continues, ignoring his behaviour. ‘Now, let me change out of this suit and into something a bit more forest-appropriate, and then we’ll find your Cinderella.’
Much later, after a magical wardrobe change, several hours of hiking through the trees, and excited introductions with the resistance camp, Hook finds himself wandering through the maze of tents, enjoying the darkness and the peace that comes with it.
A flash of light catches his eyes, coming from beyond the protection of the camp. Someone has wandered further into the forest, and he doesn’t need to have known her long to take a guess as to whom it might be.
‘A little bit dangerous to be out here alone, is it not, Your Majesty?’ he calls out softly, keeping his voice low so as to avoid disturbing the rest of the camp. She is standing with her back resting against a tree, and as he comes closer, he can see the light is coming from a fireball she skilfully flicks from hand to hand.
‘It’s just Regina,’ she tells him, but her attention is fixated on the fire, her expression serious. He hesitates for a moment, uncertain whether he should just leave her alone. He’s never been one to avoid difficult conversations, however, so he settles himself against the tree also, close enough that their shoulders brush just once.
‘Well, Regina,’ he tries again, ‘Why are you being all brooding, alone and an easy target for whatever lurks in these woods after dark?’
The fireball stops darting around her fingers, and stills, suspended in mid-air. Abruptly, the light goes out, and darkness falls until his eyes adjust to the dimness of the evening now that the far-off campfires and the moon are the only things still shining.
‘Don’t act like we’re friends,’ Regina snaps suddenly. ‘The other version of you was tiresome enough, but we don’t even know each other.’
‘I knew you,’ he blurts out. He’s not sure what he’s trying to prove. ‘I mean, not YOU-you, but the version of you that lived in my realm.’
This catches her attention, and for the first time that evening, they make eye contact.
‘You knew the Evil Queen from the wish realm?’ she repeats. ‘I thought Snow and Charming defeated her long ago.’
He shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant under her scrutiny.
‘Well sure, but that doesn’t mean they actually managed to catch her. Took her magic, so she fled, and came to me to make another deal.’
Regina is silent, but he can hear the unasked questions anyway.
‘She gave me information I thought I needed,’ he continues, waving his hand vaguely. ‘And in return, I agreed to give her passage on the Jolly Roger away from that land and to one where she wouldn’t have to deal with Snow White anymore.’
‘And did you?’ Regina interjects. ‘Give her passage, I mean? Where did she decide to go?’
He feels a slight pressure on his shoulder again, and realizes she’s relaxed back further against the tree.
‘Well, yes and no,’ he admits. ‘She got a position on the ship, but it wasn’t with me at the helm. Left Smee as Captain, but it didn’t take long for stories to spread about a new Pirate Queen. Seems my men and your other self hit it off quite well. Who knew an Evil Queen could make such a good pirate, eh?’
‘We do always find a way to survive,’ Regina murmurs. She tilts her head back and sideways slightly, so they can look at each other properly. ‘And you? Why didn’t you go with them?’
His voice catches in his throat for a moment. He’s already had to talk about Alice too much recently – it hurts enough that he wants to ignore her question. But she waits patiently, eyes expectant.
‘My daughter,’ he chokes out eventually. ‘I had a baby daughter and I decided to stay with her.’
Regina drops her gaze again, but nods.
‘I was actually thinking about you earlier,’ she announces, and it is such an abrupt change of subject, and the tone of this entire conversation has been so strange, that Hook cannot even muster up a leering response to her words.
‘Oh?’ he says instead, hoping to sound confident and disinterested at the same time.
‘When I was in your realm, I was so sure it had just been created by a wish,’ she continues, and her shoulders are once more hunched over slightly. ‘I assumed it was all a figment of Emma’s wish and desire, and none of it was real. I did something terrible there, because I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. And now you’re here, reminding me that the people where you come from all had lives and histories and families.’
Hook doesn’t even know what to say to her confession – all the words that spring to mind seem wrong.
‘Her name is Alice,’ he finally says, and then it is as if he can’t stop talking about her. He explains how he found raised his daughter, what she looks like, her favourite book, her favourite games to play, her favourite star constellations…Anything and everything he can think of. For once, the pain for his daughter is dulled, and he can linger on the happier memories. Regina doesn’t say much, but she listens all the same, her shoulder pressed against his.
As time marches on, they become reluctant friends.
Of course, Regina is still rather snarky towards him, and thinks of at least one creative insult a day to call him, but they work well together in a team when figuring out how to go about fighting the evils of this world.
Some days, Hook gazes around and marvels at the number of people who seem to like having him as part of the camp. His men on board the Jolly Roger had worked well under his command, but there is a certain comradery he feels amongst these people that he couldn’t achieve when being called ‘sir’.
Other days, the camp is too loud and full of people. He has to escape it all, to find somewhere dark and quiet, and think back to his tower and home, where his daughter grew up. It had been him and Alice against the world, and he had lost his way after that, sinking into the bottle and despair. The happiness he feels surrounded by these people stirs up feelings of guilt, which gnaws away inside. He shouldn’t feel happy, not while his daughter still needs saving.
Coincidentally, Regina always manages to find him when he’s in one of these moods, and each time has a ridiculous task that he MUST do right at that moment, and no, it cannot wait.
‘Do you have a tracker on me or something?’ he asks irritably one day, not wanting to admit he had been a few steps away from packing a bag and fleeing from everyone. Regina gives him a sideways glance, but doesn’t pause in her long explanation of a certain chore that apparently can only be done by him, despite both of them being well aware that there are plenty of men in the camp who would be happy to help Regina out.
Regina herself seems to have decided that her role is to be everywhere all at once. If she isn’t with him and Tiana, discussing strategies for defending the camp or ways to fight back, then he can find her helping with the cooking, or discussing animal care with some of the farmers, or healing broken clothes and broken bones with her magic, or trying to give advice to the young people who are brave enough to sidle up to her and start a conversation. Hook feels tired just watching it all; it seems any way his head turns, she is there doing some task.
Until one day she isn’t.
He is in the middle of a morning sword practice with a couple of young men, when the clash of metal is drowned out by Henry’s call.
‘Killian!’
‘Halt, halt,’ Hook orders, dropping his guard once his opponent complies. The name still sounds strange to his ears – he has been either ‘papa’ or ‘Hook’ for a long time now. ‘No need to shout, Henry. What’s the matter?’
Henry not-so-subtly gestures for him to come closer.
‘I can’t find Mom,’ he says softly, as soon as they’ve walked far enough away from the curious onlookers. ‘She said she was going to find some herbs to help Charlotte’s illness, but that was several hours ago, and she hasn’t returned to camp.’
Hook rests a reassuring hand on Henry’s arm.
‘Your mother is very good at looking after herself,’ he says, even as he can feel his stomach drop. ‘But tell you what – why don’t we go ask Tiana and Ella to help us scout around. And whoever finds Regina can order her ass back to camp.’
Henry smiles weakly at this, but nods, before striding away to speak to Tiana. Hook takes a moment to ponder his options, and then heads out into the forest. He had seen Regina early that morning – before the sun had even risen. Unable to sleep, he was busy trying to get the fire to relight so they could have an early start on breakfast, when she had slipped by him in the darkness.
‘Are you sure that’s wise?’ he had called out, watching as she aimed towards a dense patch of trees.
‘I’m pretty sure my magic will keep me better protected than your sword would,’ she had shot back, and then was gone.
Now he walks in the same direction, hoping to find her engrossed in herb picking, or whatever silly task had enticed her away. Instead, after twenty minutes of searching, he stumbles across a clearing with several bodies strewn about. His heart begins to beat slightly faster, even as he realizes that the bodies are all men – no doubt forest bandits looking for an easy target to rob.
‘If you’re here to say I told you so, I will take your hook and gut you with it,’ a voice snarls, and he spins around to see Regina, hunched on the ground by a tree. Her arms are wrapped around her middle, and he can see her breathing is laboured.
‘Wouldn’t dream of it, love,’ he assures her. ‘You a bit out of practice with the whole fighting thing? Seem a bit out of breath.’
He tries to keep his voice carefree as he nears, but can’t stop a frown from darkening his face when he sees her grimace.
‘Not so much out of practice as careless,’ she pushes out, and stretches to grasp his wrist and stagger upright. As soon as she is on her feet, her face drains of any remaining colour, and she sways suddenly.
‘Damn, I guess he got me better than I expected,’ she mutters, still clinging on to his arm, and Hook realizes her fingers have red smeared on them. He glances down quickly, hand going automatically to press against the wound in her side.
‘We need to get you back to camp, now,’ he tells her, feeling the warmth of her blood.
‘You aren’t going to carry me like a damsel in distress,’ she snaps back, and her bad mood makes him feel slightly better. A quiet Regina in this situation would be a worse sign.
They begin the slow limp back, and just as Hook is steering her towards her tent, Henry bursts onto the scene.
‘MOM!’ he yells, skidding to a halt beside them. ‘What happened? Are you OK? Is that BLOOD?’
‘Henry,’ Hook interrupts. ‘I need you to go find Mary and get her to come and help.’
Henry takes off again at a sprint, and a whirlwind ten minutes later, both men find themselves banned from Regina’s tent whilst Mary and her nurses take charge.
‘I should have gone with her,’ Hook mutters, looking down at his now-bloodied hands. Henry is pacing up and down, but pauses at this.
‘I’m pretty sure she would have taken that as an insult,’ he says, a very small smile on his lips. ‘Perhaps we need to implement a buddy system though…y’know, make everyone go around in pairs at least.’
‘I imagine your mother would still think herself too scary to need a buddy,’ Hook frowns, crossing his arms. ‘Bloody stubborn woman, that one.’
‘Yeah, she is,’ Henry agrees, and Hook can hear the love shining out of those words.
When they are finally allowed back in the tent, Regina is asleep.
‘And don’t you disturb her,’ Mary threatens darkly, as she sweeps by them. Henry races to sit by his mother’s side, and Hook ignores the reasons why he decides to wander in and settle himself on Regina’s other side. They sit there for the rest of the night, talking about random subjects before first one and then the other finally succumbs to sleep.
The next morning, Regina is awake and irritable, announcing to the world that she is FINE, thankyouverymuch. Not even Mary’s glowering can stop her from attempting to swing her legs out of bed and get up.
‘I told you she was bloody stubborn!’ Hook accuses Henry.
‘Excuse me!’ Regina has to jump in. ‘I am not stubborn, I am just fine and not wanting to waste my day being coddled.’
Hook snorts in disbelief, so she follows this up with a suggestion about exactly where he can put his hook, prompting Henry to say ‘Mom’ in a very scandalized tone.
It takes her son’s puppy eyes and sad pleading to persuade Regina to stay in bed one more day.
‘I’ll get us some breakfast,’ Henry announces, and bounds away, triumphant in his win. Hook turns to follow.
‘Hey,’ Regina says softly once they are alone. ‘I guess…thanks. For helping me.’
She smiles at him then, and it is tired but also bright. He finds himself smiling back, suddenly reluctant to go. They stare at each other for a few moments, and then he shrugs.
‘I have cards,’ he says, rummaging around in the bottom of his coat’s pocket. ‘The boys and I were going to play a game after sword practice, but then I was distracted by someone’s drama.’
Regina sits further upright in bed, face barely betraying the pain she’s in.
‘Bring it on,’ she demands, and when Henry arrives back, carefully balancing three bowls, they are already embroiled in a highly competitive game.
Lucy is born, and Drizella is turned to stone. Life falls into a pleasant routine.
Alice is still never far from his mind, but she is alive and building her own happiness, and he can take comfort in that, even if he still cannot hug his own daughter.
Sometimes life is almost too boring, and he can tell Regina feels the same. On days like this, he steals her away from the others, telling her to change out of whatever ridiculous dress she is wearing so they can go on a proper adventure. They ride out in a different direction each time, and discussions inevitably turn to comparing realms and the differences between.
Alas, the adventures rarely end with any good fights, but just the act of searching for danger can give them energy. Occasionally, Regina will let loose with her fireballs, and he’ll practice dodging them. Inevitably some poor unsuspecting tree will burn down. There is a chaotic and destructive element inside Regina, no matter how much of a hero she now is, and it has taken him this long to realize it is better for her to direct that outwards rather than inwards. He ignores the fact that he may have exactly the same destructive streak, and pointedly does not make eye contact when he feels Regina watching him with a knowing expression.
It is the late in the night before Lucy’s eight birthday, when Regina seeks him out, knocking quietly on the door. He had been unable to sleep himself, and it only takes a moment to open the door and allow her to slip inside.
‘What is it, love?’ he asks, watching her pace around his bedroom.
‘Something bad is going to happen,’ she replies, running a hand through her hair and making the curls stand up slightly. ‘I don’t know why, I just feel it.’
He grasps hold of her shoulders gently, and tugs her closer so they are standing face-to-face.
‘Drizella can’t enact anything against us tomorrow,’ he tells her, but instead of reassuring her, he can feel the dread start to seep into his own skin.
‘Life is too good right now,’ Regina whispers, and for once she doesn’t hide her fear. ‘It’s too peaceful, I’m too happy. Something is going to happen tomorrow.’
She sounds so convinced, he doesn’t know what he can say to change her mind. So instead, he steps forwards and pulls her into a hug. For all that they’ve now known each other for many years, they have never actually embraced. Regina stiffens for a moment, and then he feels the tension slowly drain out. Her arms wrap around his waist, as she tucks her head against his chest. They stand there until the sun begins to rise.
Rogers can clearly remember the first time he meets the proprietor of “Roni’s”. He is on duty, covering a late shift and bored out of his mind as he drinks the final dregs of a terrible coffee, when the door to the bar across the road from where his car is parked bursts open and a man stumbles out.
‘If you come back again, I’ll get my bat,’ a voice yells at the man, and Rogers sees a small woman come storming out of the bar, staring after the drunk man.
‘She was always good at the dramatic entrances,’ he thinks, and it is such a strange thought about a woman he has never met before, that he pushes it out of his mind immediately.
He climbs out of his car instead, jerking a thumb in the direction the creep went.
‘This guy being a problem?’ he asks, crossing the road. The woman places her hands on her hips, glaring angrily at the world.
‘Not to me, but he tried it on with one of my employees,’ she grumbles. ‘I don’t think he’ll come back though, if he knows what’s good for him. I do have a reputation around here, after all.’
‘A reputation for beating people with bats?’ he asks incredulously, unable to help his lips curling into a smile. Her frown smooths out, and then she beams up at him in response.
‘Only those who deserve it,’ she says cheerily, and then nods back towards the bar. ‘I best make sure they aren’t burning the place down in my absence. Thanks anyway!’
With a wink, she wanders back inside.
Rogers is almost tempted to go to the bar as a customer in the following days, just to see if he can run into the bartender again. He figures it may be a weird move on his part, however, and then work becomes so busy he has no time to think about ‘Roni’s’.
He finally manages to finish work on time several weeks later. An early evening at home beckons him, but he instead finds his feet leading him in the opposite direction, down the road and to the bar. Inside, it is fairly busy for a Thursday evening, and it takes him a few moments to reach the front of the queue.
‘Good evening!’ a familiar voice greets him. Roni herself is standing on the other side of the counter, and she smirks when his eyes widen at the sight of her. ‘I was wondering when you’d turn up. All the police officers end up here eventually.’
The crowd has thinned out enough that he can seat himself at the bar, and he leans over to allow himself to be heard.
‘Did that man ever try to return?’ he half-shouts over the music and buzz of chatter. Roni shakes her head proudly.
‘Guess my reputation with a bat precedes me,’ she says, quirking an eyebrow. ‘What’s your poison?’
He spends too many hours there – so much for an early night. But after that, he manages to find time to drop in once a week. The bar sells good drinks, that is all. It’s not just because he enjoys talking to Roni.
Those peaceful evenings are shattered the day he stands in front of Roni, and she warns him with a serious expression about his new partner.
‘I can take care of myself,’ he responds, although it isn’t clear if he’s trying to reassure her or himself. Weaver is not a man he feels like trusting right now.
‘Yeah, but listen. Weaver brings a lot of new partners in here, and not a lot of them come back,’ Roni presses.
Rogers has at this moment already fallen down the rabbit hole, but he doesn’t realize it, not yet. Not until he is firmly embroiled in conspiracies and intrigue, and Roni is his partner in crime over bear claws and coffee, and there is a young man with an awkward demeanour called Henry joining their fight, and a young woman with blonde hair who seems so familiar to him.
Rogers admires Roni’s fearlessness and determination in these battles.
‘We always did make a great team in strategizing,’ he thinks, and there are memories in his head of him and Regina – no, Roni, he doesn’t know a Regina, who is Regina? – and they are standing over a map and arguing with Sabine of all people about defences. They are strange thoughts, and he chases them away quickly.
One day, he wakes up as ordinary Detective Rogers. And then there is a fight with magic and witches, and everything Rogers believed about the world is a lie.
Roni has powers and her name is actually Regina, and she’s babbling on about poisoned hearts, and a curse and a cure, and instead of thinking about how crazy she is, Rogers thinks ‘well of course that’s Regina’.
He doesn’t dwell on the thought however, because Roni – Regina – is apparently about to go into battle against a group of witches, all alone except for a red-haired woman who also believes in magic. Rogers is still not entirely sure he believes in magic and curses, but when Roni pulls him aside for a private discussion, he goes willingly and ready to listen.
‘If…If something happens to me, please tell Henry I love him,’ she says in a rush. ‘And that it wasn’t his fault, and he deserves a happy ending.’
And it is strange, but Rogers knows instinctively she does not mean she is IN love with Henry, but something else. Just as he knows that Regina – Roni? – does not believe she is coming back from whatever this fight will entail.
‘I’ll tell him,’ he says, and just as she turns to leave, he catches hold of her wrist and pulls her back gently.
‘What are you doing?’ she asks, and this action more than going off for a fight to the death seems to unsettle her.
‘Regina,’ he says, and isn’t it strange that this name rolls off his tongue easily? ‘You deserve a happy ending too.’
Then he slides his hand into her hair, fingers tangled in the soft curls, and leans forward to kiss her.
‘I can’t,’ Regina whispers, and her voice cracks slightly as she pulls back. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t risk the curse.’
She steps back, and they are both breathing heavily.
‘You’re a good man, Rogers,’ she says, and then she flees.
He hesitates only for a moment, and then swears loudly. Magic and witches or not, he is not allowing her to walk out of his life like that. His gun is heavy in his hand as he heads in the direction he thinks Regina went.
They had already been in a maze of abandoned industrial buildings, and it doesn’t take him long to register where the noise and flashes of lights are coming from – a large factory that had previously been very dark and empty. The door has been blasted in, and he slips through the entranceway and follows the corridors down.
‘Zelena!’ he hears Regina cry, turning a corner just in time to see the red-haired woman crash into the wall and slump to the floor. Regina is standing in the middle of the room, and a purple stormcloud surrounds her, crackling with sparks and untamed destructive power. She has never looked more beautiful to Rogers.
‘Oh, I do hope your dearest sister is alright,’ sneers another voice, and he registers suddenly that Regina is facing down an entire group of women.
‘Bring it,’ Regina snarls, and then she is fighting for her life as the other women surge forward. Rogers can barely keep track of her through the noise and light, and the fact that the women all seem to shift around the room without always…moving directly there.
Suddenly, Regina is flung to the ground, and she is screaming loudly even as she struggles to stand up. Rogers lifts his gun, takes aim, and manages to empty his clip before a pain worse than he’d ever felt before rips through him, and everything goes dark.
When he awakens a few hours later, he is no longer merely Detective Rogers. He is Rogers but he is also Hook – Killian Jones, that’s his actual name, no? That and maybe…
‘Papa!’ Alice cries, and he opens his eyes to see a hospital room, and in front of all the beeping machinery, his daughter. She leans down carefully, and he doesn’t even flinch because any pain in his heart would be worth having a hug from her. His arms wrap around her shoulders automatically, but there is no pain – only joy and Alice and he realizes abruptly that he is crying.
‘It doesn’t affect us in this world, Papa,’ Alice says softly, and she pulls back only in order to sit next to his bed and hold his hand. He falls asleep smiling, but with the faint itch in the back of his mind that he is forgetting something.
When he next awakens, it is Regina sat next to his bed.
‘Did I dream about Alice?’ he says, his voice rough but his brain functioning better this time. She shakes her head, reaching forwards with a cup of water that he sips greedily.
‘Robin arrived a short while ago,’ she says softly. ‘Alice thought you were asleep, so they’re taking some time together.’
He nods, slowly pulling himself upright so he can look Regina properly in the eyes.
‘Henry?’ he asks, remembering now exactly what Regina had been telling his cursed self. ‘Lucy?’
‘All fine,’ she reassures him. ‘Everyone is fine. I could barely escape that room to come check on you. But trust me, they’ll all be here later to say hello.’
‘You’re fine?’ he asks, and at this her hand reaches out and grasps his wrist. They’ve left his prosthetic hand off, and he understands, considering he’s in the hospital, but it makes him want to reach out with his other hand so that they can lace their fingers together. He waits instead.
‘I’m fine, thanks to you,’ she replies, but she drops her gaze. ‘Just – don’t do that again. I thought they’d killed you, and I…I couldn’t have done it again. Not again.’
‘What do you mean, not again?’ he demands, and he knows exactly what she’s trying to say, but still can’t actually believe it. Instead of an answer, she leans forwards, fingers tracing down his cheek to his jaw, and then they are finally kissing.
‘So,’ he begins casually. It is a week later, and he has finally been allowed to leave the hospital, although only under promise of supervision.
‘Get your mind out of the gutter,’ Regina snorts, pushing him down onto her bed. ‘You’re still a patient. Doctor’s orders.’
He waggles his eyebrows and grins charmingly up at her, but apparently Regina Mills is made of strong stuff, since she merely rolls her eyes and turns away, starting to re-arrange the rest of the room in order to fit a few of his belongings.
‘Actually, what I was going to say was: so, this is it? The curse is broken, to Storybrooke we go, big reunions, blah blah blah?’
Regina stops her tidying and perches on the edge of his (her) bed.
‘Well, I certainly want to visit Storybrooke,’ she agrees. ‘It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to speak to Snow and Charming especially. And they’ll want to come and visit here too, I hope. But…It’s no longer our home. Not really. Lucy, Ella and Tiana have never lived there. Zelena has gone back to San Francisco to try and make it work with her fiancée. Henry seems content to build a life with his family here.’
‘And you?’ he asks, biting his lip. She raises an eyebrow and peers down at him.
‘Well, I’d hope we’d stick around here too…It’s not like you’ve ever been to Storybrooke either. Although I can’t promise I’ll keep to Roni’s old clothes.’
‘A fair trade,’ he whispers, as she leans down for a kiss.
For Taylor - @findingtallahassee. Merry Christmas Eve (hope you get well soon!!) I’m so excited I got you as my giftee for @onceuponafestivegifting; doing this was awesome. I see why you like Drizella ;) Hope you enjoy it, even though it has a somewhat sad tone. From my corner of the world to yours,
Here is my @onceuponafestivegifting gift for @hearteateremma. I hope you don’t mind fluffy SQ Christmas fics. I had prompts and I wanted to use them. :)
“It’s Christmas Eve. That means I can open a present right?”
She watches as Regina rolls her eyes, and can barely hold back her own smile. It wasn’t her present that she was looking forward to tonight, but she had to keep up appearances lest Regina suspect something.
“Yes, Emma, that means you can open a present. I swear, you’re worse than Henry.”
“Hey!”
“Sorry Henry,” Regina says with a chuckle. She’s adorable when she looks at their son. There’s so much love in her eyes, and Emma’s heart melts a little more every time. It’s hard to think about how they used to be at each other’s throats. Thankfully, that’s well in the past now.
Emma goes to the tree and surveys the festively wrapped packages arranged beneath. Seeing a likely candidate with her name on it, she picks it up and gives it a little shake, pretending to ponder whether this is the right one. She nods to herself, then turns and picks up a big box and brings it over to Regina.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the present you get to open tonight.”
“Don’t I get to pick my own?”
“Nope. You need to open this one.”
One eyebrow raises and she gives Emma a look like she’s expecting the box to explode in her face. “Hmm.”
“It’s not a trap, I promise. I just really want you to open this one before tomorrow. Please?”
Henry is in on it, of course, and he sidles up to give his mom a nudge. “Go on, Mom. I wanna see what’s in that big box.”
“Well, okay.”
Emma shares a secret grin with Henry. He knows just how to get Regina to agree to things when he needs to.
They both watch as Regina carefully opens the wrapping paper, then has to grab a knife out of her desk to cut the tape. Henry helped with the wrapping too. She opens the box flaps wide…and finds another, slightly smaller box. It’s wrapped in different wrapping paper, and it’s all Emma can do to keep from laughing out loud at the look on her face. Their eyes meet for a moment, Regina rolls hers again, and then she begins unwrapping that present too. After a moment’s fiddling, she gets it open, and finds yet another box.
“Emma…”
“Yes, Regina?”
“I suppose you think you’re funny?”
“I don’t think I’m funny, I know I’m funny. Now go on. You’ve got another box to open.”
Regina lets out a slow breath, a sure sign that she’s getting frustrated, but she forces herself to be calm as she unwraps the next box – to find another box. “How many of these are there?”
“You’ll find out. Keep going.”
“I think someone’s going to be sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Emma doubted that she’d be sleeping anywhere but in their bed, but if she found herself on the couch, it would be worth it.
Once again Regina opens the box, and once again there’s another. Then another. Emma can tell that Henry is barely keeping his laughter in as his mom gets more and more annoyed. “I’m going to kill you, Emma Swan,” she mutters and Emma does laugh at that.
“No, you’re not.”
“You seem awfully sure.”
“I am.” The look Regina gives her prompts for more, so she adds, “Just wait until you get to the last box. You’ll see.”
There aren’t actually that many more boxes, so it’s not long until she’s left holding a single small, wrapped package. She stares at it for a long moment as if she’s almost afraid of it, then looks to Emma, then back to the package. “Open it,” Emma says softly, aware that Henry is almost vibrating with impatience.
“C’mon, Mom!”
Long, elegant fingers hold the little box with such care as she peels back the paper to expose the black velveteen beneath. That’s when Emma steps forward to pluck the box from Regina’s hand and gets down on one knee. She opens it facing away from her so that Regina can see the diamond, and now that the moment is finally here, she has to swallow around a lump in her throat. “I know we don’t always see eye to eye, and some days you really want to kill me, but…Regina Mills, will you marry me?”
There are tears in those beautiful brown eyes as she looks from Emma to the ring, and back again. “Seriously? You want to…”
“And you call me an idiot,” Emma snorts, rolling her eyes playfully. She takes the ring from the box and slides it onto Regina’s finger, taking a moment to appreciate the way it sparkles. “Looks pretty good there. So what’d’ya say?”
“Of course I’ll marry you.”
Before Emma can say anything, she’s being tugged up and into a fierce kiss. Henry whoops and pumps his fist in the air, and they all dissolve into laughter. She frees an arm so that she can pull him into the hug, and there’s a moment of pure joy between them. “My perfect family.”
Regina rests her forehead against Emma’s, the tears still sliding down her cheeks, but the crinkles at the corners of her eyes showing that they’re happy tears. “I suppose I have to forgive you for the boxes.”
“Good, because that was one of the best ideas Henry and I have ever had.”
“It was mostly Ma,” he chimes in, clearly covering his ass in case Regina decides not to forgive them.
“Hey, whose side are you on?” She laughs as she nudges his shoulder.
“That depends on if I’m going to be grounded or not.”
“Traitor!”
“You’re not going to be grounded. Either of you.”
Regina’s beaming at the both of them, and there’s that look again that melts Emma’s heart. This has already been the best Christmas that she can remember, and it’s just the beginning of their life together. There are so many adventures left to be had. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Emma. Now it’s your turn to open your present.”
“I already got what I wanted for Christmas. You.”
“Well if you two are just going to be sappy now, I’m going to go open my present.”
Henry gives them a squeeze and wanders off to the tree to pick something out. Emma takes that opportunity to lean in and whisper in her now-fiancée’s ear, “I get to unwrap you later, right?”
The answer is a husky chuckle and a smack on the shoulder. “Behave!”
“Still here you know!”
“We know, Dear. We know. Which is why Miss Swan is going to behave herself.”
“Not going to be Miss Swan for much longer.” She winks and steps away to reclaim the present she’d originally taken from under the tree. And that is a cheery thought. Emma Swan-Mills has a nice ring to it.
