Sit Still, Look Pretty

Untitled Part 1

Both were frozen, one full of terror- the other an unreadable mask. The release of one tear quickly followed by another is the only movement. Emma could not explain the way her hand darted out to stop the brunette's before it completed its full motion. She had not meant to. Not any more than the tears. For the first time Emma was seeing Regina. Really seeing what hides beneath.

Despite being a woman known for complete control, one thing had always escaped Regina: Emma. True to form, she appeared earlier than normal. Regina had thought nothing of it as the car door groan signified the blonde's arrival. When would she ever retire that yellow deathtrap? she mused while continuing her morning routine. Emma's clunky footfalls echoed up the stairs as the brunette tamed her last stray hair. Regina still had a few more seconds before facing Emma in the hallway. However, also true to form, Emma had managed to find herself in a time and place where she did not belong, Regina's bedroom. Regina had been in mid-motion of applying her make-up when the hand that did not belong to her ceased the motion. Fear was foreign, surprise a rare thing indeed - but the two co-mingled was something even worse. Terror. It coiled itself around her insides and held on. The same was not true of her newfound observer. Slowly, the first tear had welled in Emma's eyes, followed by others cascading in a steady trek down her cheek. Now Regina's mind was engaged in battle between the terror and confusion. Neither of which she cared to be.

Gently Emma released Regina's wrist, bringing her right hand up and waving away the former mayor's completed appearance glamour. Her pale lips opened in a soft, "oh."

The word seemed to hold a world unto itself.

"Emma, what is it?"

A goofy grin overtook the blonde's features. To anyone who did not know her it would have appeared to begin at the lips. To the experienced brunette, it had been in her eyes during most of their silent staring contest. The first thirty seconds or so had just been hazy due to Regina's own bewilderment.

"You don't need make-up." Emma blubbered.

"Miss. Swan, if you think for one...."

"Iota." Emma intervened, "I love that word."

Regina could not resist the amusement bubbling in her gut. "It is rude to interrupt your elders."

"Apologies." The blonde could not stop her giggle.

"If you think for one iota that I will step out of this house without a stitch of make-up on, you are gravely mistaken."

"Don't step out just...stay right here." Regina felt the way her head tilted, giving Emma a side eyed glance. Honestly, she had no idea what was coursing through that Charming mind, only that it made her words come out funny. Regina remembered when Henry had been old enough to denote the difference between Mommy and Mayor. His wide, playful eyes as he touched the scar on her lip. "Mama you are so bootaful."

"Thank you My Prince. The word you are trying to say is beautiful. Beau-ti-ful."

"Ba....ba."

"Beau..." Regina said slowly

"Beau..."

"Ti."

"Ti."

"ful."

"ful! Beautiful!" His arm embraced her in joy at his new word.

For the first time, Emma could see the woman behind the façade. There was a hint of weariness in the corner of her eyes, laugh lines to compliment her mouth, hair slightly out of place and in those brown pools- the weight of a lifetime times two. Regina was unsure how many flaws Emma was currently studying, and briefly wondered if they indicated her actual age. She had spent years staring into the looking glass only seeing the broken, shattered pieces of herself. Pieces no one should have to suppress. Each wrinkle to be feared as she could be ostracized from her throne for that of a younger, fairer variety of queen. It had been a practice that still weighed heavily on her tattered soul. Yet Emma had made no movement. This was the mother of her child; blonde, bold, and stumbling for words. Regina could not believe she had been allowed to see her this way