A/N: One day, I will attempt to begin one of these with an actual plot so that I'm not making it up as I go! Hopefully it's fun :) Please review!

What about the heart line, indeed...

"...I'm not sure that would really come into play."

"How do you mean?"

"Well... The heart line in this case covers the shallowest of uses for the vessel; 'love' of a, well, of a romantic sort. 'Love' where there is a carnal aspect. An element of desire. I would suggest such a practice might prove useful if this witch plans on going after your pirate-"

"-Or your archer-"

"-Miss Swan... Desist."

The brunette grumbles, as she toes the leaves at her feet with an air of disgust. Emma complies amiably enough and pulls herself up so that she sits with her arms linked around her knees on the fallen remains of the old oak. Dark coals flash from the ruined cuff of garish leather to the unyielding bark finally laid to rest on the forest floor, and the Mayor finds herself a little shaken by how quickly things could have turned for the worse. She purses her lips and regards the younger woman thoughtfully, before continuing

"If you would have let me finish, however... Your sordid fancies and your imagined interests on my account are of little worth, as neither of the men in question possess any touch of power."

"How come they would have to-"

"-Our hearts- at least, when it comes to lore- are almost always useless on their own. The idea of one's heart being behind their magic- as opposed to their vitality- is another thing entirely to what you might have learnt so far."

"Well, so far, I've learnt 'inside; good, outside; bad'... Well, that and-"

"-So far, you have learnt very little."

"Hey! That doesn't really seem fair, I mean, I-"

"-And if you continue to interrupt me, this is going to take twice as long."

"Yeah, but you-"

"-Would you behave in such a manner if I were a teacher teaching a lesson in a classroom?"

"... Probably."

"Then your previous tutors have my deepest sympathies, Miss Swan."

Regina growls with a roll of her eyes, although she inwardly reprimands herself for expecting anything else of the young woman sat smirking before her.

"If you like, I can go stand in the corner and think about what I've done?"

Emma offers with a guise of pure innocence, and the brunette shakes her head as her breath mists to form angry clouds of fog. She has yet to figure out how to deal with this strange facet of their new relationship; the blonde entirely different when they are alone to how she presents herself in the company of others. For some obscure reason, Emma seems to have chosen her to be the person she allows herself to relax around, and, while the stoic, gravelly apathy of their previous conversations had been unbelievably grating, this impish, openly mischievous version of the Sheriff leaves her feeling uncomfortably confused.

After all, the younger woman proposes a host of wayward mannerisms that she utterly detests...

And yet...

Well...

They suit her.

And there is something strangely appealing in the way she feels as though the blonde sees her almost as a friend.

Not that she would choose the Sheriff by any stretch of the imagination to play her comrade...

But...

It's been a hell of a long time since anyone else tried to take up that mantel.

Sniffing dismissively as she hunches her shoulders against the cold, she caries on with her explanation as she beckons the younger woman down from her perch to follow her back into town.

"What I was trying to explain to you, before I was so rudely interrupted, was that to use the heart lines you have to work together. You have to work with the one whose affections you share to emit a combined form of power. Needless to say, the resultant force of using your heart line is the most powerful of all three, but, with the decrease in those who possess any form of magic, it is seldom used. The prerequisite factor of needing an amorous relationship with another of power means use of such magic died out with the decline in practitioners breeding with their own kind. Not entirely... But save to say there have been few documented cases in the last couple of decades."

"... But why? I mean... I'm magic, and my parents don't-"

"-You're also the Saviour, Miss Swan. For all intents and purposes, you are simply a tool fashioned by the Dark One made flesh."

"Right..."

The younger woman sighs with a frown; the fact that she exists only as a mechanism to something much greater no easier to come to terms with the second time around.

True, both her parents and the Dark One have made it clear that there is more to such things, and that she exists in her own right the same way any of them might... But...

Well, Regina's words may be fashioned to sting, but they pretty much sum up how she feels about the topic herself.

Yeah, and this isn't the first time...

Not by a long shot.

And she supposes this might be part of the reason she has found herself curiously elated to work with the brunette rather than against her.

She makes sense.

She can be a bitch about it, sure, but she makes sense.

Catching the shift in the younger woman's mood easily, Regina sighs, but continues on as though uninterrupted; not having forgiven Emma quite enough for her scare by the bridge to offer any consolation.

Whether the blonde had meant to frighten her or not.

"Of course, there are anomalies to any system, but ordinarily, magic is a birthright. Oh, back in the day when it was still being honed, altered and perfected, there were those that taught themselves via various means- none of them particularly savoury- but that was a little before my time-"

"-Decades ago..."

The younger woman smirks, and Regina snaps at her irritably

"There are six years between us, if that!"

"Well yeah, sort of... But could you show me a birth certificate that said the same?"

Emma grins, before her face drops when the brunette hisses maliciously

"Could you show me one that said anything at all?"

"... Nice, Regina. Real nice."

The blonde huffs, and the darker woman quickens her pace slightly in pursuit of the Sheriff as she storms ahead.

"Oh, come now! Everything worked out in the end! You don't need a piece of paper to say that the two idiots are besotted with you!"

She grumbles irritably; falling into step beside the blonde as the latter shrugs moodily in a way that suggests she sees the Mayor's point, but is unwilling to give up on her agitation.

"I guess..."

"Such a tradition was never practiced back in the Enchanted Forest anyway, especially not in the name of a princess."

"Ugh..."

"Oh, I am in pure agreement if that unladylike noise is in response to your position in line to the proverbial throne, dear, but, be that as it may, tradition is tradition, and, however hard it may be for myself to fathom you as 'royal' by any degree, your birth would have been announced and documented in a charter as was the way."

"Fancy."

Emma smirks, giving up the ghost of her former irritation in favour of returning to their original topic of conversation.

"Okay, so, there weren't enough people around with power to fall in love and cast, uh, heart magic? That's why it's not been done in a while?"

"Love? Who ever said they had to be in love? I stated that there had to be an attraction. To call such a visceral thing as lust 'love' would be cheapening the idea."

"So... As long as you wanted to get into the other person's pants, you're all set?"

The Sheriff drawls with a frown; such a vague implementation of the rules not at all what she has come to expect from magic. Sensing her confusion, Regina sighs as she finds herself slightly uncomfortable giving the younger woman what is threatening to turn into a lesson in sexual education rather than simple hand placement to hone her craft.

"Well... The feeling would need to be mutual... And of a deeper sense than simply appreciating another's appeal... It's... Um... All to do with passion. When one... Hmm... Lies with another... That sense of excitement, and, well, I don't need to discuss the various reactions your body goes through, is similar to the passion needed to work the kind of magic that you're asking about. It's... It's said to be rather intense."

"Sounds it..."

The blonde smirks as she takes in the deep blush painting the darker woman's cheeks as they exit the shadow of the trees. Thinking on Regina's words, she suddenly wrinkles her nose and inquires with all the eloquence of a teenage boy

"Wait... Are you trying to say... I mean... Do people get off on it? While they're doing it!?"

"... I haven't read quite that deeply into any scripture, dear, but I don't see why we shouldn't put the topic to rest. Seeing as it bares little point discussing as I'm sure you'll agree."

The brunette replies with flustered finality.

"Well, yeah, I mean, from the sounds of things-"

"-That is, unless you've been harbouring any unaddressed feelings for Rumple, in which case who knows where our limitations lie."

Regina smirks at the notion; not bothering to wait on a reply to something so ludicrous, but simply enjoying poking fun at the younger woman in return for the discomfort the topic has lent her.

Emma merely finds herself frowning momentarily- curiously thrown as she remembers the way her study of the Mayor's svelte form hugged by sinful crimson had given her pause for thought back in Mary Margaret's apartment- before rolling her eyes and drawling playfully

"Yeah, no, not so much. Sorry, Regina... Why do you ask? Covering up a crush?"

"... Definitely, definitely not."

The brunette sniffs, but not without a small note of amusement; her eyes glittering as she turns to face the Saviour outside Granny's.

"So it would appear such a thing would be moot, as there are only three of us on this sorry side possessing any form of power, and it would seem our common male interest is of, well, no interest. Good day, Miss Swan."

She nods curtly; spying Henry making his way out of the Diner and heading towards the younger woman, and not in the mood to play her part in his fantasy world. Emma raises her hand distractedly in return, before turning to their son and greeting him amiably.

"Hey, Henry."

"Mom, where were you?"

"Huh? Oh, I went for a little walk with Mayor Mills... We, uh, used to hang out quite a bit, and felt reminiscing a little..."

"Right... Like your 'friend from jail'..."

Henry drawls; his growing disbelief in the story the blonde has been spinning him since arriving here evident in his tone.

"Right."

Emma agrees, momentarily preoccupied as they start up the path; her gaze fixed on the retreating form of the Mayor as the latter sashays smartly towards her office.

"-boat."

"Huh?"

She snaps out of her voyeuristic trance and glances down at Henry in surprise.

"... I said, Killian wanted to know if you wanted to go and look at the boat."

"Leroy's boat?"

"Yeah."

"Why? I've seen Leroy's boat. I don't even really like-"

"-Don't think that was why he was asking, mom..."

Henry grins, and she frowns at him as she tries to gain some control over the peculiar disarray of her feelings.

"Oh hush, you..."

"Aw, come on! You don't even like him a little? You're allowed to say, you know, I'm not a kid anymore! You're allowed to have a crush, even if you are my mom and it's totally gross..."

"... What, like you and Natalie Pirbright, you mean?"

"I-"

"-And you're still a kid, you'll always be a kid. I'm your mother; you'll be a kid when you're fifty."

"You're changing the subject... I can tell you're crushing; you're my mother, I can always tell... And I so do not like Natalie... Girls are gross!"

"... Right."