I've been writing from Damon and Elena's perspectives in The Vampire Diaries for so long now that this was a bit of a challenge for me to try out different characters. So, here we are with my first Swan Queen fanfic. Sorry if it's dreadful!

It hadn't taken long before Emma Swan noticed something was missing. No, not something; someone. And that someone was Regina Mills, one of the most important people in her son's life… maybe hers too.

After everything they had gone through, from parenthood to dragon slaying, it was difficult for Emma to not notice when Regina wasn't around with her authoritative presence and sharp tongue. And now, as Emma scanned the bustling tables inside Granny's, the all too familiar sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach set in and she was instantly able to recognise it as the disappointment of not being able to find her in the crowd.

It was worrying, Emma thought, that she could recognise this particular feeling so well now. That she dreaded it; that she longed for the day when she'd never have to feel it again. Maybe one day, her mind whispered, maybe one day you can accept what's between you. It was for Henry's sake, she told herself. She needed to know Regina was safe because she mattered to Henry and that meant Regina mattered to her too.

She knew it was a lie even as she thought it. Even the slightest mention of Regina's name after being away from her for so long had Emma's stomach doing somersaults. She cared about her, a lot.

The next thing Emma knew, she was walking to her car with Henry. She must have zoned out for longer than she thought. Glancing at the sky, her suspicions were confirmed as it turned a pleasing orangey pink colour, marking the end of one day and soon enough the beginning of the next that would, hopefully, bring with it a new chapter of her crazy life.

She had a chance now, a chance to know her family. It would be weird; it would take some getting used to, some getting over the deep feeling of abandonment that had left her hollow for quite some time but she had to believe she could do it. After all, faith was something that apparently ran in the Charming family, even if a part of her still cried out, "but you're a Swan."

With a final sigh, Emma turned her eyes back to her little yellow bug, where her son was waiting patiently in the passenger seat. No words had needed to be spoken between the pair; she knew he had been staying with James, er, her father, whilst everything had been going down but after today, after his gentle words to Regina, they both silently accepted that it was time for him to go home. Things around Storybrooke needed to develop some sort of twisted normality and that wasn't going to happen with everyone fighting amongst themselves.

It wasn't until they stepped out of the car, in front of the large mansion, that Henry finally spoke. "Emma?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she looked over at him, her blonde hair whipping at her shoulders in the light night's breeze, green-blue eyes full of worry that something was wrong, that she'd failed to notice yet another major detail.

"You are happy to be back, aren't you? You barely spoke at dinner… or drank your cocoa." The young boy frowned.

Emma knitted her brows together until wrinkles appeared on her forehead and her mouth pulled downwards into a frown. "Of course I am, I'm just, I'm tired. It's a lot to take in yano?"

Henry nodded. He understood. He'd had a hard enough time getting Emma to pretend that this was all real and now that it actually was real, now that she had seen it for herself and travelled between their two lands, he could only imagine how confused she must be feeling.

So when his birth mother ruffled his hair and gave him one of her tight smiles and said, "don't worry, kid," he knew everything was eventually going to be okay.

Emma looked up as Henry ran off down the pathway that lead to the house, catching him just as he flew past Regina, who had stepped out onto the front porch to meet them, and yelled, "night mom!" to one of them, or both.

She should have turned around and gone back to her car, but something made her keep walking forwards until she stood in front of Regina on the gleaming white porch.

Regina's dark eyes flickered across Emma's face. "Thank you for bringing Henry back safely, Ms Swan," she gave a quick clear of her throat before correcting herself to, "Emma."

It was her name on the brunette's lips, a pleasurable sound she rarely got to opportunity to hear, that grabbed the blonde's attention.

Regina's voice was still cold in tone and yet it was different than before Emma had been dragged down that portal. It was rougher, sadder and dare she think it, weaker. As if she was tired and all the strength had been taken from her. Was this what Henry pulling away from her was causing? If so, it needed to stop. She needed to fix this once and for all, Emma decided as she dragged her eyes across the darker haired woman's face. It was empty, lacking her usual make up, her mask of sorts. It was so unusual to see Regina like this, dishevelled. Not that dishevelled could even be used with its full force as she still somehow managed to look tall, in charge, regal.

Emma had been without a mother for so long she had never taken into consideration what it must be like to live with a bad one. She wanted to feel sorry for Regina, having to grow up with someone like Cora, drilling it into her that to love was bad, was to make yourself weak, but she couldn't. It surely must have taken a toll on Regina over the years, it was almost certainly a large part of why she had turned out the way she had as The Evil Queen, however Regina was not the sort of person you felt sorry for and in a way Emma admired her for that. Even in her weakest of moments Regina exuded strength.

Love was weakness and fear was power. Everything in Regina's head must have been so backwards, so messed up and Emma found herself wanting to fix it. Wanting to prove to Regina that all this time, Cora had been wrong, just like she had proven it to herself when Cora tried to rip her heart out instead of Snow's.

That was when Emma finally met Regina's eyes and saw something that surprised her: the similarity between them and her own. Right now Regina's eyes held a look that Emma had become accustomed to over the years because it was the same expression that stared back at her when she looked into a mirror. It was the look that said, I don't believe anymore, but I'm going to keep on fighting anyway.

That realisation made Emma open her mouth and when she thought of how odd she must look, standing in front of The Mayor, staring into her eyes with her lips parted, she said the first thing that came to mind, "You didn't join us for dinner." It was one of those statements that required an answer.

Regina's eyes never flickered from Emma's gaze. "I didn't think I was invited," she replied.

"Regina," Emma spoke, her eyes softening, "you saved my life. Of course you were invited."

This time it was Regina's turn to part her lips and stand there with a conflicted look spreading across her face.

What Emma did next wasn't something she would have normally done if the circumstances had been different; if she hadn't just spent the day locked inside an underground prison cell, travelled across worlds and fought a witch and a pirate in the process of returning home to her son, she may just have been thinking straight.

But with the look in Regina's eyes and the hope that this time she truly did want to redeem herself, and it seemed as though she did, Emma couldn't stop herself from pulling Regina into a hug, knowing they were the only two people around to witness it as the light from Henry's bedroom had long since gone out. Emma's arms locked tightly around Regina's shoulders, moulding their bodies together, her head rested on the other woman's shoulder. The body she was clinging to tensed but Emma refused to pull away.

Regina quickly regained her composure and remembered that she was supposed to breathe but when she tried to take a deep gulp of oxygen down into her lungs she was instead consumed by Emma Swan. It figured someone so blonde would also smell of strawberries. No knowing what else to do, Regina lifted her arms until she was hugging Emma back, albeit awkwardly. Then, when Emma gave her a reassuring squeeze as if to say, 'I'm here, I'm not going to hurt you', Regina couldn't help but melt into The Saviour's arms.

Emma chuckled slightly, making Regina smirk, and then she turned her head into the dark blanket of hair, taking comfort in its silk-like texture. Of course, Regina of all people would also have to have the softest hair Emma had ever felt.

"You had no idea what I was going to do then, did you?" Emma asked, hot breath tickling the shell of Regina's ear.

"Always so full of surprises, Ms Swan," Regina retorted, pretending to be un-amused while pulling back from the hug but retaining the proximity.

Two pairs of eyes locked onto each other, breath mixed in the cold night's air.

"Thank you," Emma muttered as if not to scare off a timid, wild animal. She knew she had said her thanks before, when she emerged from the well and back into her world, but somehow now that they were alone she felt the need to say it again. Somehow, it meant more.

"You're welcome," Regina replied just as softly.

They were so close, there must have only been centimetres between their faces and yet neither of the two people, who were supposed to hate each other more than anything, could find it in themselves to pull away.

"Regina," Emma's voice dropped to a whisper as she spoke the name, delicately caressing it with her voice as it slid with ease from her lips.

"Yes?" Regina muttered in a way that made Emma wonder if the woman was entirely paying attention or completely focused on the decreasing amount of air and space between their bodies.

Emma's voice caught in her throat as she suddenly found herself praying that this wasn't a dream, that she wasn't about to wake up and be filled with the strongest sense of confusion imaginable. "I missed you," she all but whimpered against the mayor's lips now.

She had expected Regina to pull away, respond with a snarky comment or straighten out her shirt and act as though nothing had ever happened between them. What she hadn't expected was for Regina's breathing to hitch and her mouth to part open ever so slightly more and her eyes to widen, searching for any trace of a joke or a lie, but that was what happened anyway.

"Regina," Emma's voice came out as a desperate beg before she could stop it. She needed something to happen now. She had to either throw herself at the woman in her arms or release her and get as far away as possible until these thoughts stopped.

"Shh," Regina sounded and then Emma's decision was being made for her.

One of Regina's arms slid from Emma's back and cupped her face, thumb softly stroking her jaw, fingers tangling in long blonde tresses. Eyes shut, space closed, air evaporated and soft, pink lips descended on soft, pink lips.

The world exploded. Everything felt right. This was how it was all supposed to be. The build up of tension that seemed to have played out in slow motion in their minds did nothing to represent the kiss. It was rough, it was refreshing, and it was them.

All Emma could think of was this moment right here, her lips sucking on Regina's plumb bottom one and then parting to allow Regina's tongue to slip inside her mouth and slide along her own. Neither of them dominated the other for long, neither of them were in full control of the other one. It seemed like a constant battle between them but at least this way it was enjoyable. They moved together as if they had been doing this together for years, they knew which way to tilt their heads and when to tug on a fistful of hair to extract exactly the right whimper or moan from the other one's throat.

When Regina found herself backed up against her front door with Emma pressed fully against her, legs tangled and a beautiful mane of wild blonde hair shining against the moonlight, she couldn't think of a single reason to stop what they were doing.

And just like that, the world faded away. Other worlds, cruel mothers, pirates, saviours, evil queens, magic and alike were forgotten, now a story for another day.

Let me know what you think, even the shortest of reviews can make my day!