Emma's magic had a twisted sense of humor. She had tried to conjure a bouquet of roses to hand to Regina as a thank-you at the end of her latest magic lesson. It wasn't her fault that she had gotten distracted by Regina's exquisite figure and how beautiful she would look lying on the couch, covered only in rose petals. The piercing scream Snow had emitted paled only to the death glare Regina had given her, but if Emma were perfectly honest, the picturesque sight before her was well worth the punishment she was sure to receive.

Of course, this wasn't the only time Emma had gotten distracted by Regina when performing spells. Just yesterday, Emma had tried to conjure Regina's famous lasagna and had gotten distracted by the thought of Regina in an apron, and suddenly Regina had appeared in the middle of Emma's kitchen wearing her favorite apron, looking rather confused and annoyed.

Last week, Regina had tried to help Emma enact a location spell to locate Henry, but Emma had gotten distracted by Regina's shirt and how much she liked it, and suddenly they were both wearing identical shirts. Quite frankly, Emma was surprised that Regina hadn't tried to film any of these spells gone wrong for Storybrooke's Funniest Magical Mishaps, which wasn't a TV show yet, but probably would be if anyone ever followed Emma around for a week.

The positively crazy part was that Regina, mayor of Storybrooke, the woman with the key to Emma's heart and constant state of arousal, hadn't figured out why Emma's magic kept malfunctioning and putting them in awkward situations. Regina, who always yelled at her for being an idiot, was being completely and willfully oblivious, and Emma wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Still, it wasn't exactly fair for Regina to be at the center of every one of Emma's mishaps, however accidental, so Emma apologized, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean..."

"You never do. Maybe we should take a break. I've been working you too hard," Regina sighed, conjuring herself some clothes. How was it possible for the Savior and child of True Love to be so incompetent? "What spell were you trying this time anyway?"

"It's not important," Emma answered, her eyes downcast. For a woman who could slay dragons and jump into burning buildings, she was a huge coward when it came to affairs of the heart. "I just wanted to get good at this magic stuff for…Henry's sake."

Regina looked her directly in the eyes, "You will. I promise you, you will. My reputation as your teacher is on the line here."

"You're a great teacher. I'm just hopeless," Emma muttered as she continued to berate herself for getting distracted during her lessons again.

"Do you think I was perfect when I first started learning spells? No, but I practiced and practiced and got better, and so will you," Regina was getting awfully tired of Emma's feeling sorry for herself. She decided to crack a joke, "Just next time you want to see me naked, make sure your mother isn't around."

Emma paled. She couldn't mean...she couldn't know...could she? She started, "I…"

"Relax, I'm joking. I know you weren't trying to get me naked. Spells go haywire. It happens," Regina rolled her eyes.

"Regina, I…"

"Ok, you know what? I'm taking you out to the bar, and we are going to celebrate the look on your mother's face, and then we'll pick up with your lessons in the morning," Regina said, getting up and grabbing Emma's hand. "Now, are you going to tell your parents they are watching Henry, or shall I?"

Emma nodded weakly, sending a quick text off to David. God, why was she such a coward? Normal girls were open with their feelings and didn't spend all their time hoping and wishing the girl on whom they were crushing would make the first move. Then again, normal girls weren't totally in love with a former Evil Queen either.

"Emma...focus. You're off in your own little world again," Regina shook her head. "I asked if you were planning to wear that...thing, or if you wanted to change first."

Emma looked down at herself. Her jeans didn't have any holes in them, and her white tank top was set off nicely by her red leather jacket. In her opinion, she looked fine. It wasn't like Regina would be looking anyway, and she didn't want to be fending off idiots at the bar. She answered, "No, I'm good."

"Suit yourself. I, on the other hand, am going to go freshen up. Some of us want to have a date sometime in the next century," Regina winked. "I'll be right back."

Was this a date? Regina had said 'date'. Emma was going to die. Henry was going to find her rotting corpse. This was too much pressure, and why was Regina leaving to change when she could magic herself an outfit anyway? To make Emma more nervous?

When Regina returned, Emma had to pick her jaw off the floor. Whatever she had been expecting Regina to wear, it certainly wasn't a red lace corset and a tight mini-skirt. She watched dumbfounded as Regina reached into the closet and added a transparent black shawl to her ensemble.

"Do you like it?" Regina asked, twirling around for the full effect. She knew she looked good, but she felt the need to show off anyway.

Emma shut her mouth, subconsciously licking her lips the way she did when she was nervous, and nodded. This was going to be a night to remember.

When they arrived at the bar, a crowd had already formed. The lighting was dark with the exception of the dance floor that had fluorescent, neon lights. Regina had gone up to the bartender to get them both drinks while Emma waited a few feet back deftly avoiding drunk people running into her as much as she could. When she returned, Emma accepted the drink gratefully, and it wasn't long before they were approached by a random stranger. Used to being the one having to fend off male attention, as the guy 'accidentally' bumped into Regina instead, Emma panicked.

"Hey, what's a pretty girl like you doing without a dance partner?" The guy, who had dark, wavy hair and stocky shoulders, started to flirt with Regina.

"Is that a dance offer I'm hearing?" Regina asked noncommittally.

Hearing the sound of her voice, the guy realized his mistake, "Wait...you're the...the…"

"Lovely Regina Mills who already has a dance partner," Emma supplied, wondering at the words spilling out of her mouth. "Now, if you'll kindly leave us be, we would like to dance.".

"You didn't have to do that you know," Regina said as Emma pulled her onto the dance floor. "I am well aware of how people see me."

Emma asked, "Who was that jerk anyway? Did you know him?"

"His name was Gaston. He was a narcissistic freak who was completely obsessed with Belle," Regina answered, putting her arms around Emma as the music slowed.

"Wait, I know that story. How were you involved? Wait, no, don't tell me. It's in the past. I don't need to know," Emma babbled, trying to pretend she didn't notice the feel of Regina's arms around her. Dancing together was clearly a bad idea, and why had Emma opened her mouth in the first place? A stupid Savior complex?

"You know, you're the only one who sees me that way," Regina said conversationally. "As someone who can change."

"One of the benefits to growing up in this world is that not everything is black and white. There's a lot of grey," Emma explained while internally reminding herself not to look down. "If you had met me as a teenager, you probably would've written me off as evil too."

"I read your file, remember? I totally top you in the past evils department," Regina grinned. The music paused briefly as the song ended and a new one, which was slightly more upbeat, began to play.

"Ugh, it's not a contest. I'm just saying I know how hard it can be, you know, when everyone just sees your past and not who you are now," Emma empathized. She didn't think about her time in juvenile detention often, but it was a huge wakeup call to her back then.

"New rules. No talking, just dancing. Tonight isn't about philosophy; it's about having fun," Regina flirted, rubbing her body against Emma's to the beat of the music.

No talking-this meant Emma had absolutely nothing to distract her from the feel of Regina grinding against her. Her nipples were hard as rocks, and she was desperately trying to avoid doing something that could be construed as inappropriate. Kittens, puppies, apples, her mother...she just needed to think of anything that would distract her from her heightened arousal, and was that a hand brushing against her ass? No, of course not. She was just too worked up and imagining things. It didn't help that their bodies moved in sync so easily.

A slow song started, thank heaven, and Emma was totally going to excuse herself to go finish her drink. There was only one problem. She had made the mistake of looking down, and the tops of Regina's breasts stared at her through the red lace corset. Emma felt another jolt of arousal course through her veins when Regina laid her head on Emma's chest. What could she do? She warred with herself over doing the right thing versus the thing she wanted to do most in the world-kiss Regina Mills.

Regina, on the other hand, was growing impatient. Had she misread Emma's signals? How many 'accidental' touches was it going to take? What was taking her so long to just woman up and kiss her already? She looked up at Emma's face and stared at Emma's lips for a moment. She reached up with her hand and delicately traced Emma's mouth with her fingers.

Emma stood frozen to the ground. This wasn't happening. She wasn't leaning in and kissing the amazing Regina Mills-except she was. The pull between them was intense, magnetic, and overwhelming. Once their lips touched, she couldn't stop even if she had tried. She had wanted this for too long-needed this from the bottom of her soul. For the first time, Emma experienced the power of True Love's kiss, and it was beautiful.