I'm so incredibly sorry for the wait! I didn't mean for it to happen, but college life kind of took over. And then I hit the biggest mental block for the second half of this chapter, pretty much writing one sentence a day for awhile.

I finally fixed it however, and I won't bore you with more of my rambles. Enjoy the new chapter!

Previously on Ooga Booga:

Regina had a nightmare, Emma came in to cuddle, and then Regina woke up confused the next morning:

Regina let her head flop back down onto her pillow and blew out a heavy sigh. How could this have happened over just a few days? Was she so far in denial that she couldn't even recognize her own feelings anymore? Had she fallen so far into the darkness that she no longer knew her own heart?

Just a few days ago, had she found Emma in her bed, the blonde would have been roasted where she lay. Now, Regina found herself creeping quietly from the bed, doing her best not to jostle her. "If she wakes up, then I will have to deal with her. Best to let her sleep," Regina tried to reason with herself - but she still felt guilty that she was the reason the normally hyperactive woman was so exhausted.

Slipping on a robe, she turned at the doorway and looked back at Emma one last time. Shaking her head at herself, she began to walk downstairs to prepare breakfast.

"Gods, I need a drink."

- Time Jump: 2 Weeks -

"This is going to end badly." David spoke out of the side of his mouth to Snow, keeping his smile in place as the public filtered in.

"I know, but we don't exactly have a choice. People are asking questions and you know how out of control the rumors will get." The brunette waved at Red and Granny as they pushed their way towards the front of the Town Hall. "People are still quick to blame Regina - if we don't publically back her, things will descend into chaos."

"You'd think after the whole Wicked Witch thing they would trust her a bit more."

The two of them turned to walk towards the podium that stood in the center of stage, letting their politician smiles drop for a moment. "To be fair, none of them actually saw her perform light magic. But plenty of them have seen her do unspeakable acts of evil. I doubt any of them will trust her within the next decade."

David couldn't answer his wife before they reached the podium. He stepped forward to speak, as they had agreed upon the evening before. Clearing his throat, he quickly slipped into his role as King. "Thank you all for coming. We realize quite a few of you have questions about recent events, and we will do our best to answer all of them in a timely fashion."

A shout of "Well, get on with it!" came from Leroy, who had obviously started his night early.

Ignoring the interruption, David continued. "Several of you have approached us with concerns regarding our daughter Emma. We realize she hasn't been around in the past couple of weeks, and we understand your concern. However, there is no need to worry. As you know, Emma has been learning magic from Regina. There was recently an… incident. Emma is staying at Regina's until the problem can be fixed."

The noise level rose as the citizens began to murmur to each other. A voice of reason rose above them in the form of Archie. "Perhaps you could explain a bit more. Exactly what happened to Emma? And why is it necessary that she remain at Regina's home?"

Nodding gratefully to the former cricket, the prince waited a moment for the crowd to quiet before continuing. "The two of them were working on creating fire, and apparently Emma… got… distracted. She accidently cast a spell - or a curse - on herself that switched her mind with that of a caveman." Snow winced, wondering if that could sound anymore ridiculous.

Loud laughter sounded from the front row, and all eyes turned to see Granny, bent over at the waist and tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry! But only our Savior - purveyor of True Love and light magic - could curse herself by accident." She continued to guffaw loudly, and a few other joined her for a moment. Snow and David began to relax, thinking that perhaps this would go far more smoothly than they had previously believed.

But the majority of people still looked worried, and it wasn't long before they began doing exactly as the Charming's had predicted.

"Why is she staying with Regina?"

"Are you sure this isn't some trick - the Savior and the Queen never got along. This could be some new plot that witch cooked up!"

"Regina was never good at sharing. This could be her opportunity to get Emma away from Henry for good!"

This went on for a short while and began to rise in intensity before Snow stepped forward, pitching her voice so it would heard over the accusations. "Everyone, please settle down!." She paused as eyes turned to her, then continued, her voice a practiced calm. "Please believe me - you have nothing to worry about. Both myself and my husband have checked up on Regina and Emma and can assure you that Emma is in no danger."

"But Regina-!"

She quickly raised a hand to stave off the protest. "I know that several of you do not trust Regina and while that is completely understandable, I ask you to trust me. Trust me when I tell you that Emma is completely safe and Regina is using all of her skills to try to cure her." A small smile appeared on her face. "Believe me, Regina wants nothing more than to have Emma fixed and out of her house."

This type of back and forth went on for some time. Once they realized that they could say little more to reassure everyone, the meeting was brought to a close quickly. The royals stood at the corner of the stage, ensuring that everyone was leaving safely. David leaned down towards Snow, his voice a conspiratory whisper. "You know, I'm not so sure Regina would be so happy to have Emma out of her house."

Snow turned to look at him, slipping her hand in his. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've seen how much closer they've gotten. Old Regina would have burnt Emma to a crisp for doing some of the things she has. I think that they've become really close without ever realizing it."

Snow shook her head, looking somewhat disturbed. "That's not - no, I don't think so. I can't see Regina becoming… friends with Emma. Not with Henry's affection on the line. Besides, have you seen how much they argue - opposites in almost every way."

"What's that saying? Opposites attract?" David began to lead her towards the double doors of Town Hall.

Snow scoffed, determined to ignore the buzzing in the back of her mind. "If you are insinuating what I think you are, you are out of your mind."

"So would you like to explain to me why Emma is still living after the things she's done?"

Snow really didn't like where this conversation was going. The thought of her former enemy and her grown daughter doing… things sent shudders down her spine. There had to be another explanation. "You weren't awake, but when Regina first got Henry, she changed. Having someone to care for, to be dependent on her - that's all she really wanted. It's the same thing with Emma. It's like she's another child. That's all it is."

David's raised eyebrow told Snow that the excuse was as weak as she feared. "I know you don't want to think of it, but I think that the two of them are far closer than either of us know. Both of them are so… protective of their relationships, I doubt we'd be the first to know if things had changed."

She sighed heavily. They had reached to doorway and for a moment she stood, blinking against the harsh sunlight. She leaned against David's broad chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Do you think they have changed?"

She felt his shrug. "I'm not sure. But I think they are more than just co-parents. Maybe even more than friends."

"What are we going to do?"

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head and she could feel his smile. "We aren't going to do anything and you know it. No matter how it makes you feel, if the two of them have found love, you'll defend them until your last breath."

This time her sigh was light, comfortable in his arms. "I hate that you know me so well."

His chuckle vibrated throughout her body. "I love you."

"And I love you. But if you're right, if you even think about saying 'I told you so', you'll be sleeping on the couch."

- SQ -

Regina scrubbed a hand across her eyes and tried in vain to focus on the book in front of her, instead of the hands massaging her shoulders. This was the new compromise that had developed between the former Evil Queen and the annoying - but still non-verbal - Savior.

After the night they had they shared a bed, when Regina tried to reinforced their previous boundaries, Emma had moped for several days, confused and beginning to believe that her mate had rejected her permanently. Regina had cracked in an embarrassingly short amount of time, allowing small periods of contact between them throughout the day. She could only stand it for a short amount of time before she jerked away in an uncoordinated show of emotion, but it was enough to keep the blonde woman content.

But now, the contact was sending unwelcome tingles down her spine, distracting her from her self-imposed study time as she searched for a cure.

"Enough."

Emma grumbled and huffed, but removed her hands. She couldn't quite remember what it had been like before, but Regina's skin felt right under her hands. She didn't know what had changed, but now her mate disliked any physical contact. Emma had quickly learned that when the brunette reached her limit, it was best to obey before things got… heated.

Regina watched as the blonde stomped over to the couch, flopping backwards into the cushion. It was difficult during the day - Henry was gone and Regina had to work on mayoral duties or with the spell books that currently littered the living room. Emma often grew bored within a couple hours, whining and grumbling to herself.

There was silence in the house for just under 20 minutes when Emma suddenly shot up in her seat, darting over to Regina, wrapping her body around the woman and growling loudly at a random spot on the floor.

"Ms. Swan, this is highly inappropriate! Get off of m-" The smell of smoke cut off her words, black smoke rising as Rumplestiltskin appeared in front of them.

Raising an eyebrow at their position, in his typical drawl he asked "Am I interrupting something?"

Regina shoved Emma's arms off of her, a blush rising on her cheeks. "What do you want Rumple? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Emma remained pressed closed to Regina's back, vibrating with her silent growls. The amount of power coming off of this strange man was terrifying. It was like an inky black shadow followed him as he moved around with inhuman ease. She sensed her mate's discomfort as well and while her first instinct was to throw this… thing out of the door, it was as if the power acted like a shield around him, preventing her from moving forward.

Rumplestiltskin let out a throaty chuckle. "Really Regina, are you that surprised? Our great Savior, incapacitated by her own spell, the townspeople working themselves into a tizzy over your involvement, and you clearly have no idea how to fix this."

"I don't need your help."

He waggled a finger at her. "If you didn't need my help, then Ms. Swan would already be fixed and out the door. Face it dearie - you were never concerned with the breaking of curses. You have no idea what you are even looking for. All these fancy books, and still you are no closer to the answer."

Regina gritted her teeth, annoyed by the truth in his statement. Breaking curses in the absence of true love was not something she had ever truly worried about. The people she cursed were meant to stay cursed.

But she was not going to tell Rumple that. "It's not that simple, imp. I've found plenty of information on how to break accidental curses, but they all require the caster to speak a reversal spell. I don't know if you noticed," Regina threw her arm out to indicate Emma's hovering form, nearly smacking the blonde in the nose, "that isn't possible in this situation."

He walked forward as if he owned the house, ignoring the glares being directed at him as he made himself comfortable at the table. "This may shock you, your Majesty, but I've been making deals since long before you were even thought of. And if there is one thing I've learned, it's that every situation has a loophole." He grinned over at her, his eyes taking on that unnatural glint from the Enchanted Forest. "You just need to find it."

With that, he began to rifle through the books. A silence began to build, the tension growing so thick that it made Regina uncomfortable. She shifted on her feet, unsure of herself. For all of their somewhat playful bickering, they both knew that Rumplestiltskin was the stronger of the two. She couldn't really force him to leave if he didn't want to.

But she sure as hell was not going to leave him alone in her living room. So with a loud and appropriately annoyed "Hmph," she sat down on the opposite end of the table and dragged a book over to her, staring down at it blindly. She felt Emma's presence directly behind her, and for once, the blonde's hovering made her feel stronger.

The uncomfortable silence built, the tension in the room growing so strong that it felt physically stifling. Between the arrogant aura that Rumplestiltskin was emanating and the growing rage behind her, Regina felt trapped in her seat between the two of them. She looked at the book without really seeing the words, just trying to calm down the magic that was trying to spark from her finger tips.

An immeasurable amount of time past before Rumple looked up and noticed how close Emma was standing to Regina's chair, practically curled over her with a snarl etched across her face. He let out a low chuckle, "Glad to see your guard dog knows how to stay. Now if only you could teach her to speak."

Regina kept her head tilted down, but rolled her eyes, determined not to let his jibes get to her. "I'm sure Ms. Swan appreciates you comparing her to a canine."

He raised his eyebrow. "You don't consider her to be somewhat… puppy like?"

"No. I mean, she's not exactly self-sufficient but she still has more intelligence than half the people in Storybrooke."

"I had no idea you thought so highly of our esteemed Savior." He watched Regina shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. Maybe there was more to the situation than he had previously assumed. His curiosity began to overwhelm him. "Is there a chance that you aren't quite as eager as the Charming's believe to rid your home of Miss Swan?"

"You're delusional."

"Am I really? You said it yourself Your Majesty, we are the two most powerful practitioners of magic currently alive. You dedicated yourself to dark magic - locked yourself away from your husband and studied every book on magic that I could find for you. I recognize most of these books from your personal library and I know for a fact that you have near eidetic knowledge of each of them. So you explain to me why it is that you have found no answers."

Regina never got the opportunity to answer - she's not sure that she really could have - because by that point, Emma's patience had reached its snapping point. This strange man had the audacity to force his way into their home, put his hands all over her mate's books, and then make comments that she didn't fully understand, but she knew they made Regina uncomfortable. This final comment made Regina go rigid beneath her, and it was the final straw.

The snarl that ripped its way from her throat even startled the usually unflappable Rumplestiltskin with its ferocity. Side-stepping around the table, she lunged towards the man, hands outstretched and aiming for his throat.

Rumple reacted quickly, throwing out a hand and sending the blonde women flying with a wave of magic. Emma slammed into the far wall hard enough to rattle the picture frames and found herself trapped. She struggled against invisible bonds, the restraints panicking her in ways she didn't fully understand. She just knew that she had to get free now.

Standing up a sneer on his face, Rumple glared at the struggling woman. "Obviously, you should have trained her better. Can't be that intelligent if she thought she could take me."

Regina's world became centered on the look on Emma's face. She had never seen the blonde woman look so… young. Big green eyes were beginning to tear up, and the terror on her face had a distinctly child-like quality to it. Her lower lip began to tremble, and as Regina watched, a single tear began its track down a pale cheek.

*BOOM*

A wave a magic exploded from Regina, picking up Rumple and throwing him against the opposite wall. Her hands shook, a wave of red rage falling over her eyes and she teleported to stand in front of Emma. Her eyes took on a distinctly purple color and sparks danced across her finger tips. A light purple smoke surrounded Emma and allowed her to drop to the ground where she lay panting. A feeling of protectiveness washed over Regina and a shield flashed up around the two women without a second thought.

Holding onto the wall behind him, Rumple slowly stood up, watching Regina's hand carefully for another blast of magic. He snapped his fingers and his cane appeared in his hand. Leaning heavily upon it, his sharp eyes watched as Regina clearly took up a defensive position, her dark eyes daring him to try anything.

This wasn't what he had been expecting. He hadn't been sure what Regina's intention towards Emma were, but he was not expecting this extreme show of… caring. Somehow Emma had managed to sneak her way into the small group of people that Regina would defend with all of her abilities.

If he had to take a guess, Rumple suspected that there was something developing between the two women, a deeper connection than simple friends or co-parents. A new chance for Regina to find her happy ending in this world she had created for that purpose.

It was time for him to leave - he had discovered what he had wanted, but he really didn't want to hang around and get thrown into anymore walls - his nosiness had its limits. He took a step forward, watching as Emma and Regina simultaneously stepped backward. "I can see my assistance is no longer welcome. Good luck Your Majesty. With everything."

He disappeared in a swirl of black smoke and Regina dropped her shield after a moment. She took a deep breath in and let it out in one puff, trying to loosen the tension in her shoulders. It didn't matter how the confrontation ended, that man always caused her stress. And to add to that, she didn't understand just what had happened - it was as if she no longer had control over her own body.

At least Emma had no lasting damage. Regina began to turn around and reach out a hand when a blur of blonde slammed into her. Her arms pin wheeled ungracefully for a moment before she found her balance.

Emma was wrapped around her like a koala bear, still trembling slightly throughout her body. Though she couldn't begin to explain her extreme reaction, the blonde knew that Regina had saved her.

Regina froze for a moment before her hands slowly began creeping up the woman's side, eventually fully wrapping her arms around her and squeezing. They stood like that for a few moments as each woman calmed down; then Emma spoke.

"Thank you."

Two perfectly formed words. Nothing like the harshly barked out and half formed words from that night that seemed so long ago.

Regina jerked back, forcing a whine from Emma's throat. She searched her eyes, but it seemed that the sudden linguistic capability was a onetime trick. Though her eyes were less haunted, Emma showed no more awareness than the previous moment.

Allowing herself to be tugged back into a hug - just to keep the idiot quiet of course - Regina's mind raced. If she could just figure out what had prompted Emma to speak, maybe she could break the curse.

Curses were all different, could be broken several different ways. Some just wore off, some had to have True Love, and some… some curses could be tricked.

So distracted by her thoughts, Regina failed to notice Henry arriving home and finding them hugging in the living room. After standing there for several minutes and receiving no acknowledgement from either women, he eventually wondered off, wondering if this called for another mission or if they could figure it out for themselves.

-SQ-

Just to be clear, Regina legitimately doesn't know how to break the curse. Rumple's comments just put some ideas in her mind about her motivations.

Okay, there are about 3 chapters left. The next chapter is very special and a bit different. I still have several prompts to get through, but they are stand-alone prompts. So I am going to do a bit of a snapshots chapter, with several different stories. If you have any small prompts that you want Emma and Regina to do, leave it in a review.

After that, two more chapters and maybe an epilogue. Reminder that my Tumblr is sammy431 if you have questions or want to hang out. I post reactions after each OUAT episode, which usually consists of emotional flailing and angry rants, so that's fun.

Have a good day/night and please leave a review to tell me what you think!