ariestess asked: respite

Respite

"Don't you ever give it a rest?" she exploded. "I am not some paragon of goodness. OK? OK. OK, I get it. I'm your kid — this walking, talking, breathing, vessel of True Love.

"But, please! I am not feeling it, OK? This world you sent me to? I had it all drained out of me.

"Listen, I'm tired. No, don't… Mary Mar — Snow, gah, please. Don't cry. Please, don't cry. I can't. I just… I'm sorry. OK. I'm sorry. I'm beat. I need… Just, I gotta go.

"I just need… a break." Silence.

"Yeah, I… You'll always find me. No, not today." Silence.

"Tomorrow? Maybe. I'll sleep on it. Yeah. No. Let me call you." Silence.

"OK. Bye. No. No, it's not… forever. Just… a few days. Yeah. A break." Silence.

"What's that? Respite?" Emma's mouth moved around the unfamiliar word slowly. Just like them to have all this royal language she didn't understand.

A cloud of purple smoke formed and then dissipated not two feet to her left making Emma jump as Regina Mills stared at her, hands lowering, planting firmly on slender hips. "Hello, Miss Swan."

Emma groaned, dropping her phone. "Regina, what are you doing here?"

"Using a locator spell."

"Well, you can just 'locator' yourself right back where you came from."

Regina laughed. The sound did funny things to Emma's stomach. She blushed. "No, dear, I can't. This is what True Love does. Why do you think I had your parents say that word?"

"What word?"

"Respite. I happen to know it's not in your normal vocabulary."

"Geez, Regina, way to sell it."

"I don't have to sell it. You already bought the entire package."

Emma sat down on the bed in the small rental room of Granny's Bed & Breakfast. "It was one kiss, Regina."

"It was True Love's magic. It brought us right back here, to our son." Emma's head shot up. "Yes, I said our son. Henry." Regina sat on the bed next to Emma. "So," she began, putting a hand on Emma's jean-covered knee, as gentle a gesture as the former Evil Queen had ever given another person. Emma eyed the hand. "What scared you into running again?"

"Why aren't you the least bit freaked out by this? We were enemies."

"I'm here, rather than yanking you back to your idiot parents because I needed a bit of respite, too."

Emma smiled slowly and leaned in, green gaze holding Regina's chocolate in thrall. Then their lips touched gently. It was sweet and pillow-soft. "So, how long 'til my parents figure out where we are?"

"Long enough," Regina replied. Her voice came from deep in her throat in response to Emma's hands sliding onto her chest and caressing her nipples to hard points beneath the fabric of her silk blouse.

.