Furry Little Thing Called Love Final Part

Emma's plan mainly consisted of following the black-golden cat through town, preferably without being discovered by the sneaky animal.

For some reason she firmly believed that Love would inevitably lead her to Regina. He had returned to the mayor time and again over the course of more than half a year, so why stop now?
She left Henry at the apartment with his walkie, just in case she got lost somewhere.
But after half a day of following Love around, Emma was slowly starting to lose hope. She had held onto this small possibility and now that it wasn't getting her anywhere she felt the lethargy creeping up on her again.
Sighing she climbed over yet another fallen log when she realized that they were quite a bit off the road, somewhere deep in the forest surrounding Storybrooke on two sides.
She couldn't remember ever having ventured into it this far, but Love was steadily walking further into the woods. Did cats like forests? Emma had no idea. Maybe he was just looking for a cozy place for the night. And where would that leave her?
Nightfall caught up with her much quicker than she expected and soon enough there was only the pale light of the full moon still illuminating her way. She stumbled more often than not and completely lost sight of Love.
So much for her ingenius plan.

There was an owl hooting somewhere in the distance and for the first time Emma actually realized that she was alone in a forest, not knowing what sort of animals, or magical creatures, could be hiding behind the next bush. Her heart beat a little quicker and made her steps a bit faster.

"Nothing better than a creepy forest to get your pump going…" she mumbled and looked around.

There were so many sounds around her that she couldn't place, and it started to frighten her, but she refused to use the walkie to contact Henry. He was just a kid and wouldn't be able to help her anyway. All he could do was alert Snow and Charming to her predicament and she first wanted to see if she could get out of this mess by herself.
No need to send mommy and daddy on a rescue mission so shortly after they'd regained their memories.
Traipsing through town half the day, and having to make her way across the uneven ground of the forest, Emma's leg started hurting after a while.

When it had turned out that her physiotherapist was in truth the Prince of Agrabah, her sessions had come to an abrupt end, and now she was on her own with the entire thing.
She eventually decided to sit down and rest for a bit before continuing to search for the road or anything that looked remotely familiar. She massaged the painfully protesting muscles in her thigh and stretched out her leg.
There were scars all over it now, from her kneecap to her hip and down to her ankle. It was not a pretty sight, but Emma didn't mind them too much. Rather those, than having Regina crushed underneath tons of rock and sand. She knew that she would make the same decision time and again.

Suddenly there was noise somewhere in the bushes to her left. It sounded like someone was starting a small car, or alternatively a chainsaw, but the sound turned into a long-drawn howl a moment later. That was most definitely not a chainsaw, or a car, and although Emma had never really heard the growl of a wolf before, she knew that this was it.
Getting up on shaky legs she stared into the darkness, and maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but she thought she saw two large yellow eyes glaring at her from the underbrush.
She sure as hell couldn't outrun a wolf, even if her leg hadn't been feeling like it could fall off at any moment. Were there even wolves in Storybrooke? She definitely had seen one right before crashing into the welcome sign.
Emma swallowed thickly, fear rendering her limbs immovable.
Already in the next second the largest wolf she had ever seen stepped from behind a tree in front of her. It was pitch black and its fur seemed to swallow even the rest of the remaining moonlight from above.
The wolf was growling, a sound coming from deep within its body, and Emma knew that she was staring death in the eye.
Literally.
The wolf stalked closer and Emma stood there, frozen to the spot. She was trying to breathe quietly through her nose, as if that would divert the animal's attention from her. It probably already knew that she was shitting her pants right in that moment.
Metaphorically.

Emma couldn't even react as quickly as she wolf suddenly lunged forward. It tackled her to the ground and a long-drawn scream burst free of her.

"Regin-aahhh!"

She saw sharp glistening teeth hovering right in front of her and closed her eyes tightly, already expecting the searing pain of the wolf ripping into her throat.
That was certainly not how she had imagined she would die.

-#-#-#-

"Regin-aahhh!"

The scream was about as frantic and full of fear as she had ever heard. Unfortunately the voice was too familiar. Dropping the basket full of apples, Regina hurried away from the little clearing and toward her cabin, trying to follow the noise.
She dashed through a few low hanging branches and stopped dead in her tracks with her heart beating frantically. She needed a moment to catch her breath, taking in the entire scene before her.

"Emma?"

Suddenly the sheriff stopped wriggling around on the ground and lay still for a few seconds. Regina could see tears glistening on the other woman's cheeks. Slowly, very slowly, Emma blinked her eyes open and stared at Love who was proudly sitting on her chest, tail swooshing back and forth.
Regina could sense the magic in the air and around Emma. It was pure and completely untarnished. And so very powerful.
It literally made her shiver when she stepped forward.
Emma eventually stopped hiccupping and spread her arms and legs, with her head still resting on the grass.

"Oh my god… oh my god…"

Regina wasn't sure what to make of the entire scene, but seeing Emma like this, in her red leather jacket, bathed in the uniquely soft light of the moon, caused her to take several steps before she caught herself and crossed her arms in front of her chest instead.

"What is the meaning of this?"

As if awaking from a trance Emma abruptly sat up, causing Love to complain quietly while being pushed off of the sheriff.

"I have no idea what just happened!"

Emma looked around herself, her eyes landing on the cabin behind her for a few heartbeats.

"There… there was this wolf! I swear it was there. And it was about to eat me alive, like literally. And all I could think of is that I wanted to see you again, really, that is all I remember, and then suddenly I'm here. No wolf. And you are here…"

Emma took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. She raked both hands through her hair and stared at Regina as if actually seeing her for the first time.

"You're here! I found you!"

A beautiful smile spread across Emma's features and she scrambled to her feet. She moved toward Regina but winced in pain when she tried to walk. Her leg seemed to just buckle under her weight, and before Emma even had the chance to fall, Regina was there, both arms securely wrapped around the sheriff.

"Ouch…"

Regina slowly shook her head, barely able to believe that Emma had actually transported herself by using magic without knowing how.
That scent of leather and sweet lavender, which she would forever associate with the blonde, floated around her and she helped Emma to stand on her good leg to bring some distance between them.

"What are you doing here?"

Emma smiled again, holding Regina's questioning gaze.

"I came to find you, but honestly, Love sucks as a woods guide. I admit it wasn't my brightest idea so far, but at least I'm here now."

"Why did you come? To arrest me? To lead the townsfolk here?"

Regina took a few small steps back and regarded Emma with narrowed eyes.
Three weeks had passed since the curse had been broken and that had given the former mayor more time to think than anyone could have possibly needed.
Her magic was slowly returning, bit by bit, and she was only waiting, biding her time, until she was powerful enough to find a way back to the Enchanted Forest. There she could easily build herself a fortress, with walls so high and protected by magic that no one would ever be able to scale them.
A life in solitude didn't seem so bad after all.

Those twenty-eight years had changed her. Henry had changed her. Emma had changed her.
Her lust for revenge had dulled, and was replaced with sadness and exhaustion so deep-reaching that she just had no other desire but to be alone. And now Emma shattered her plans once again. She wasn't trying to harm anyone and yet they came after her. There just seemed to be no forgiveness for her, after all.
Regina glared at Emma, cold flames in her eyes. Her sudden anger manifested as a very dangerous little ball of fire that appeared in her right hand. Emma's eyes widened, but not with fear.

"I will not be strung up like some low-life thief," she hissed.

Emma slowly shook her head.

"This is not… I'm not…"

Without heeding either the obvious pain in her leg or the fireball in Regina's hand, Emma walked toward the brunette and in one fluid movement cupped her face with both hands and pulled her into a kiss so soft that the flames of anger were immediately extinguished. Regina was completely taken by surprise. She stood there, her arms hanging limply by her sides, while Emma's lips gently moved against hers. It was perfection, addictive in its sweetness and seductive in its honesty. Emma winced quietly when she tried to stand on both legs to pull Regina closer, but the former mayor placed her hands on Emma's shoulders and pushed her back.

"I have magic."

"Uhh… I know, I saw the fireball. It's pretty awesome actually…"

Emma smiled but Regina shook her head.

"No, I mean I have magic, I can help with your leg."

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"That would be nice actually."

Regina looked at Emma, really looked at her, and gazed into those gray-green eyes. She found that there was absolutely no malice there. Emma hadn't come to arrest her, let alone to hurt her in any way. She slowly stepped out of the embrace and draped Emma's arm across her own shoulders to help the blonde into the small cabin.
They didn't speak until Emma was sitting on the tiny bed inside the cottage. She looked around the single room and eventually just stared at Regina.

"That… you look nice."

Regina glanced down at her clothes and smiled.
When she had first come to Storybrooke she'd had no idea what clothing would look like in this world, so she had simply stocked the cabin with leather pants, boots, blouses and vests – just like those she had worn when she'd been younger.

"Thank you."

She pulled the dark brown leather vest off her shoulders and dropped it next to Emma on the bed.

"Take off your pants."

The blonde's eyes widened almost comically.

"W-what?"

"You have to take off your pants so I can look at your leg."

"Can't you use your magic, like, through my jeans?"

Emma gestured with her hands to emphasize the magic part of her sentence.

"I'm afraid not. I won't ask again."

"Okay, alright…" Emma muttered, but she really had to struggle with pulling the tight denim over her shapely legs without getting up.

Watching the display with a smirk, Regina crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited.

"So thank you," Emma said while freeing the first leg.

Regina was sort of distracted.

"Hm… what?"

"For saving my ass from being eaten alive. I swear that wolf was about to bite my head off."

Regina had completely forgotten about that part and dropped her arms to her sides again.

"I honestly doubt that there are man-eating wolves in this… oh."

It suddenly occurred to her that now, after magic had returned to the town, there was a certain dangerous beast among them that only appeared on full moon nights.

"But it wasn't me," Regina said.

Emma finally managed to get the jeans off completely and dropped them to the floor carelessly.

"What do you mean?"

Regina regarded the sheriff's black panties with a raised eyebrow, but quickly averted her gaze and returned to blue-grayish eyes looking at her.

"I didn't bring you here Emma, I had no idea you were out there. It was all you, and your magic."

Emma's eyes widened as she released a breath.

"I… I have magic?"

"It seems so."

Regina slowly shook her head.

"I don't know where exactly you have it from, but it will certainly come in handy one day."

Without thinking, Regina knelt down in front of Emma and thoughtfully gazed at the injured leg. She lifted her hand and gently traced one of the many scars with her fingertips. Emma shivered and diverted her eyes.

"I know it's not pretty…"

"I always thought your legs were so incredibly enticing," Regina murmured, effectively interrupting Emma.

The sheriff blushed despite herself and smirked.

"Yeah?"

"Oh yes, and those tight pants had me wanting to see what was beneath on many occasions."

Regina chuckled darkly and tilted her head to look at Emma. She straightened her upper body until she was almost face to face with the sheriff. She could feel Emma's breath on her lips and it took only a small movement until their lips met. Why exactly Emma's kisses made her feel so wanted, exhilarated and safe at the same time, Regina couldn't say, but she relished the feeling nonetheless. She rested both hands on Emma's thigh while her lips moved against the sheriff's compliant, soft mouth.
It wasn't exactly easy to summon enough focus for her magic to work, but she eventually felt the warm tingly sensation in her palms.
Humming quietly into the kiss she dragged her hands from Emma's thigh down her entire leg to her ankle, causing the sheriff to moan somewhere in the back of her throat. She repeated the movement three times and flicked her tongue over Emma's lips in one last possessive gesture before drawing back to regard her handiwork.
The scars on Emma's leg had not completely vanished, but only very faint white lines remained. Emma stared down at her thigh, seemingly shocked that she had experienced real magic first-hand.

"The pain… it's gone."

"Well I certainly hope so, dear. I might not have been the best healer in the kingdom, but my skills should be sufficient in this case."

Regina smirked and rose to her feet, only to be pulled down onto the bed a moment later. She was pretty much sitting in Emma's lap when she sheriff wrapped both arms around her waist.

"Thank you," Emma mumbled and pressed a soft kiss against Regina's exposed collarbone.

"I just want you to know that I wasn't trying to run out on you back in the hospital. It was all too much and I needed a moment to breathe. Already an hour later I wished that I could have talked to you, but Henry said you vanished in a cloud of purple mist. I'm sorry."

Regina inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, faintly shaking her head.

"It's okay. But you have to know that you were right with what you said, I am the Evil Queen."

"No Regina, you used to be the Evil Queen. I don't know who she was, but you are the woman I am in love with, and not some mystical fairytale character. You."

"Your parents won't approve, in fact they hate me…"

"As if I care what…"

Suddenly Regina jerked her head back to stare at Emma.

"What?" she breathed.

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"What?"

"You…you said… you just said that you are in love with me…?"

"Oh that, yeah… that uhm… that's how I feel."

Regina had to smile at the admission that was so very much like Emma.

"Emma you have no idea what you are getting yourself into."

She tried to look sternly at the sheriff, as if she was giving her a lecture about how to file away her reports.

"Oh I know what I'm doing, believe me."

To emphasize her words, Emma leaned forward and captured Regina's lips in another kiss. This one being just as mind-blowing as the last one.
The former mayor knew that she could get used to receiving those kisses, and for the first time in a very long time that didn't scare her a single bit.

-#-#-#-

"They won't like it."

Emma sighed and lifted her head from where it had been resting on Regina's chest.

"Since when do you care?"

"Since they remember that I cursed them for twenty-eight years and probably want to execute me the moment they see me."

Regina was starting to lift her upper body, but with a few well-placed kisses Emma soon had her relaxing into the pillows again.

"I won't let them, I promise. Henry also misses you."

Emma knew that she was playing dirty by using Henry to convince Regina to return to town with her. She had contacted him during the night to tell him that everything was alright and she would be home in a day or so. Now all she needed to do was coax Regina to leave the cottage, preferably without Emma having to physically drag her through the door. But due to the fact that she apparently possessed magic herself she might be able to just 'poof' them both back.
Emma smiled at her thought and snuggled back into Regina's side.
They had spent the entire night, and half of the morning, just exploring one another with hands, lips and gentle touches.
It had been better than anything Emma ever experienced and although she'd thought that Regina was enticing before, now she knew that she was completely addicted.
That expanse of smooth olive skin was just there for Emma to gaze at and the fact that she was allowed to touch it was more than her mind could take.
But she needed to focus. Regina wasn't anything if not stubborn, that much she knew.

"Does he really?" Regina asked quietly.

The sheriff cleared her throat and nodded.

"Yeah, he really wants to see you again, you're his mom."

Regina scooted backward until she was propped up against the headboard.

"But now that he knows that I am indeed the Evil Queen, he might think…"

Emma slowly shook her head and raised her upper body to rest on her elbows.

"He knows just as well as I do that you have changed, and he loves you. I promise you that we will work through this, no matter what."

Regina smiled at that and reached out to run her fingers through Emma's blonde tresses.

"Emma Swan, I truly can't believe what you are doing to me…"

The sheriff leaned into the touch and her eyes fluttered close.
Emma knew that from now on their journey wouldn't be a walk in the park, far from it really, but with Regina by her side she was confident that they would make it through.
They had Henry, and Emma had her parents back.

She was with family, she had love, and the future looked just a tad brighter in that moment than ever before.

-#-#-#-

Love sighed and a tiny smile spread across his usually so unanimated features. Completely disregarding his feline physique, he raised himself up to stand on his hind legs and brushed some sand off his chest with his paws.

"Took them long enough," he mumbled, silently congratulating himself on the fact that he had helped break the curse that had thrown so many fairytale characters into misery.

He looked back to the cabin one last time, stroking his whiskers with a paw, before walking into the forest.

"Now, where are my boots?"

The End

A/N: so yes, this is already the end for now. I had fun writing this fic, but I have started working on another Swan Queen story which will be somewhat longer and have a bit more plot. so follow me around, there'll be more soon :) thanks