someone comes along and shows you a brand new way

-I-

No election had caused so much controversy as far back as Mulan remembered. Between the corrupt claiming voting fraud (and being disproven), Gold facing charges of slander, and of course the gay scandal, Winlock remained buzzing for weeks.

Mulan had planned to stay out of it; Regina had other plans.

"I'm leaving the choice up to you," Regina had told her in their first private meeting since the election. Gone was all Starbucks attire; Regina had, it seemed, acquired a new wardrobe of well-fitted suits and dresses. "As the most senior employee, my recommendation will be all you need to attain promotion to manager. You can keep Belle on as an employee or hire someone else full time. I don't suggest Eric, though, if he ever comes calling. He always smells of fish and yet denies it. Bad for business."

Mulan had nodded slowly. "You mentioned a choice. There's a catch?"

Regina's lips twisted in a small smile. "I spoke to the school principal and then Frederick at the gym. Both are open to seeing a display from you. If you can impress either one, they have the funds to offer you a teaching position."

Mulan furrowed her brow. "I'm not a teacher…"

"Well of course, these would be bagazhuang classes you'd be teaching." Regina's smile widened.

Mulan had never felt more floored.

"You might, of course, be able to be both manager and teach bagazhuang in your spare time. Or I could recommend to my district manager that he hire a new manager so long as he keeps you on at least part time, and you could focus more on classes. There hasn't been any sort of martial arts instruction in years and people are interested. Their kids are interested. If you want to gain experience and money, this is your chance." Regina shrugged. "But of course it's up to you."

For the first time in her life, Mulan hugged someone who was not family or girlfriend. She smirked after letting the surprised Regina go. "I think Emma's a good influence on you. You're so much nicer."

Regina's eyes darkened for a second. "Oh please. It improves the economy and community of the town, it has nothing to do with your dreams."

"You keep telling yourself that." Mulan laughed. It was, of course, unlikely that Regina would have found out about her dreams if she didn't care a little about Mulan. But she wouldn't push the point. It was nice to know even if it wouldn't be said aloud. "They can find someone else to be manager. I'll take the second offer. Thank you."

"My pleasure." Regina smiled again, with a surprising amount of grace.

Regina was full of pleasant surprises these days. It seemed to Mulan and all of Winlock that she had blossomed almost overnight. Everyone had gotten used to the old Regina, long before all the chaos had happened. In hindsight, though, there had always been family drama hanging around. This Regina was remarkably...free.

Not that her troubles were gone. The very instant that pictures of her and Emma passionately kissing made it onto the news, an outcry from the conservative elderly all but drowned out the celebration. Vile insults and rage flew around town for a few days, before settling into a grumpy resignation. Regina, for her part, pulled off annoyed-but-professional as well as she ever did.

Then again, not everyone was quite so hateful with their bigotry. It was a strange thing to be grateful for, but...well, it was almost heartening in a town that sometimes felt nostalgic for the Dark Ages.

Two weeks went by before, one Saturday, Mulan sat in the salon and overheard the whispered conversation of two white-haired Christian ladies waiting their turn.

"It's not that I approve of such things—"

"They're not even married, for one."

"Yes, exactly. But it's not like they're wearing rainbow and glitter. They're not those kind of homosexuals."

"Yes, yes, I know what you mean. Like the nice hair lady. They're our homosexuals."

"I'm going to talk about sending some people to Ms. Mills' house, and see if she'll come to church. We might as well try."

Mulan rolled her eyes, yet took it as a step forward all the same. The world would change and even places like Winlock couldn't hold that change back forever. Scandals would be scandals, but people would stop caring in time. Most of them. The others...well, who would dare go after the popularly-elected mayor?

-II-

Regina, lit with the fire of justice and the law being on her side, didn't wait for January to arrive before making her first move. Corruption, after all, hardly sat around and waited for discovery. After a half dozen interviews about her quote-unquote gayness, which got excruciatingly frustrating the more they refused to use the word 'bisexual', she consulted with Abigail and then the police force.

Winlock's cops weren't Washington's finest, but they did find her intimidating. With Abigail's help and a tiny sprinkling of exaggeration and false implication, she arranged for mayoral records to be seized and held. Regina wouldn't be sworn in for weeks, but she didn't want to arrive and find everything scrubbed clean.

Gold might fume and Thicke might bluster, but they ran like cockroaches once Regina showed that she had a light to shine.

The success nearly distracted her from more personal happiness. Only nearly.

"There's one problem with us," Emma said with a furrowed brow, two weeks after election as they lay tangled in Regina's bed.

Despite everything, including the unfamiliar but pleasant weakness in her limbs, Regina felt herself tense up. "Oh?"

"Gumby and Quixote will never approve of this union." Emma nodded gravely.

Regina snorted and rested her head on Emma's shoulders. "I've yet to ask Quixote's opinion on anything. But if all else fails, I'm sure you can bribe him with chicken."

"I'm more worried about Gumby, since he can hardly bribe your monster."

"Gumby's a good boy," Regina mumbled, waving one hand vaguely. She was too relaxed, too blissful, to care about pets. "And if not, we can lock them in a shed and let nature play out."

Emma gasped. "Gumby would die! No, Regina, absolutely not."

Regina turned her gaze up to her only-half-horrified girlfriend, tapping a finger to Emma's lower lip. "If we can get past our differences, so can they. It will just take time."

Emma tipped her head to the side. "And since when are you the peace-believing optimist?"

Regina raised one eyebrow. "I will be anything if it gets you to stop thinking about animals when I'm naked and in your bed, Ms. Swan."

Emma laughed and kissed her. Regina hummed pleasantly and kissed back. Moments like these, happiness felt obscenely wonderful.

Of course, there were still arguments. They were in love but they were also still grumbling, still pissy, still defensive. Politics interfered, and defense mechanisms couldn't be set aside by willpower alone. Regina wanted to make lists of things they shouldn't talk about, ever, and Emma thought the opposite, that talking would be therapeutic and result in greater intimacy. Regina rolled her eyes. Emma huffed off. A few hours of annoyed silence, and then they tried apology and compromise.

"I'm not good at this," Regina said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I've never even had a relationship, so we're in the same boat there." Emma sighed. "But I believe in us."

"Yes, of course you do." Regina paused. "As do I."

Emma grinned. "And you're saying it out loud, now, which is a bonus."

Regina groaned. "Your obsession with me being sentimental is nauseating sometimes."

"And?" Emma tipped her head, waiting.

Regina rolled her tongue about her mouth, but ended up muttering, "And I love you for it. Sometimes."

Emma smiled.

Every day, Regina felt herself falling more and more in love with that smile. There was a thrill, though, a primal and heart-racing terror. Like throwing oneself off a cliff and hoping to be caught before crashing into the rocks. That, Emma said, was what love was supposed to feel like. Mulan and Aurora agreed, though Regina was loth to consider them quite experts. But she was starting to understand that nothing good in life came without risk.

And so, every day, Regina let herself fall further and further. She wouldn't think about the rocks at the bottom, if she could help it. She would only think about the thrill of flight through the air, and the promise that she and Emma would catch each other.

One day, she hoped, the healing and the happiness would drown out fear altogether.

Then she was sworn into office, and no longer had the luxury of overthinking things like love. When you looked at the details, Winlock needed more help than even Regina had prepared for. The office was wasteful, old-fashioned, and easily confirmed to be in corporate pockets. It wasn't even just Mr. Gold.

Regina stared at the paperwork for nights on end, piecing together a map of the dangers to Winlock's future. The sticky spiderweb spread beyond the town and had strands in nearly every family or business she knew. Abigail provided her with resources and consultants and she started up the steep learning curve of politics.

Still at the office? Emma would text.

Unless that's a major crime, yes. And that's not a sarcastic comment.

Uh huh, sure it isn't. Please don't make this an every night thing. But also, I would just like to remind you that you thought you wouldn't be into politics.

Don't say I told you so.

Emma sent back a winky emoticon and Regina just rolled her eyes. It became somewhat of a pattern.

Eventually, Emma started showing up at the office instead of just texting.

"Don't you have a bar to run?" Regina asked once from behind the overly-opulent desk and stacks of folders and documents. Truth be told, office work still felt foreign. The room felt far above her station, a woman who hadn't finished college, born in poverty. She swaggered for the press, but hadn't 100% convinced herself that she belonged here. Soon, maybe.

"I've been taking the early shift and weekends. Eric does 9-2." Emma walked to the window and drew the curtains closed.

Regina glanced up from her work. "Eric? Really?"

"He wears cologne, don't worry." Emma grinned and sat on the edge of Regina's desk, her broomstick skirt splaying over a handful of folders. "So what's up today?"

"Trying to find the magic ratio of allocated resources to respark people's investment in Winlock." Regina tapped pen to paper, missing her far-simpler managerial budgeting at Starbucks. "I can only do so much from this end. Winlock itself needs to rise up and believe in the potential for growth and change, and not just on election day. It's possible, but...work is needed."

When Emma leaned over, the shirt that had appeared so innocent while she stood suddenly betrayed sinful cleavage. Regina gave her a Look.

"I believe, you know, that I told you about Winlock's potential a long time ago and you didn't believe me."

"We've only dated for two months and already you're rehashing our very first squabble?" Regina murmured, one eyebrow raised.

"Still." Emma shrugged her shoulders in what was surely a purposeful move to show more cleavage. Regina tried, and failed, to keep her eyes above shoulder level. "It feels really nice to know that we came so far. That I finally got you here."

"Just as, I assure you, it's gratifying to know that I stepped in with practical aspects and a sense of moderation to temper your ideals." Regina couldn't help a small smirk. "Which was something I said you desperately needed, back during that first squabble, if you remember."

"I do." Emma laughed a little, then slid further towards Regina, moving a few folders of paperwork out of the way. Mischief danced in her blue-green eyes. "Now, Madame Mayor, since we've established that only together can we accomplish anything, I have a very serious political question."

It was late and Regina allowed herself to be distracted, even laying her favorite pen down on the desk for a moment. "Mm, I am prepared to answer any question."

Emma leaned back slightly, supporting herself on the palms of her hands with an expression that was a dorky attempt at sobriety. "Does your sense of...practical aspects and moderation allow for kisses in the mayoral office? Or would that be unprofessional?"

The question needed pondering. Regina cocked her head slightly, tapping her fingertips on Emma's knees as they hung off the edge of the desk. "Excellent question, Ms. Swan."

Emma waited. Regina pondered. Emma looked slightly doubtful. "Well?"

Certain moments called for certain actions, especially when one was only human. Regina slid her chair back and stood up, straightening her blouse. "It would be…"

The moment hung in the air. Then, swiftly, Regina stepped forward between Emma's legs and pushed her further back on the desk, a dozen papers sliding haphazardly out of the way beneath her startled girlfriend. Emma squeaked. Regina slid the skirt up to Emma's hips, feeling a predatory smile escape as she leaned in over her. "Kisses alone would be unprofessional," she breathed, once her lips were half an inch from Emma's. "What I have planned would be termed...wickedly unprofessional."

"Good god, Regina," Emma chuckled low in her throat, fingers dancing up Regina's sides. "I'm glad I drew the curtains."

"Yes." Regina flicked the tip of her tongue against Emma's upper lip, giving in to amusement, love, lust, and follow-through on the promise that people mattered more than work. "There are some things that are simply not meant to be political statements."

Emma leaned up, giving her a heated kiss that could burn the entire mayor's office down if let loose. Regina caught and claimed it, and let the fire burn her down instead.

Each time it felt better. Each time she rose from her own ashes, cleaner and brighter and just one step closer to what she wanted to be. She could see it in Emma's eyes too. They might have a thousand steps to take before they were whole again, every scar burnt away, every fear forgotten, but the first step had been the hardest. They were past that. They were onto something else, and something that, for all their professional passion, mattered more than politics.

Regina loved and was loved in return. Nothing else could hold a candle to that.

The End

Thank you again to synergyfox and natasi for betaing, and thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed.