until we meet again

Please stay

"Regina, are you okay? Let me help you, take my hand.", an angelic voice said.

"No miss Swan, I'm fine. Thank you for offering anyway.", Regina responded trying to take her eyes off of Emma's beautiful face. As she was dusting off her coat, Hope started crying even louder. Emma's face went from worried to annoyed. She looked exhausted.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone then, babies don't tend to like me, right?", Regina sighed as she walked away. As she was walking away, she felt the constant tension between them. The more steps she took, the more she wanted to go back. To go back and just never leave her side again. To tell her how she feels, how she has felt for years. Ages.

Regina was almost around the corner when Emma cleared her troath.

"No, please stay, I could really use some help here, you have no idea. She has been crying all night, it's not you." Emma started walking faster and tried to catch up with Regina but Regina kept walking. Trying to distance herself from Emma. But as Regina walked faster and faster, Emma just started running, which caused Hope to cry even louder. Regina let out a sigh. To Emma, it sounded as a 'please leave me alone-sigh. But little did she know. Little did she know that it was a 'I'm tired of hiding my feelings for you-sigh'. After a few seconds, Emma walked besides Regina and stopped right in front of her. Right in that moment, when Regina looked up, thinking of how Emma was only making it harder for her, she saw Emma's eyes. And tears rolling down on her cheeks. There was a moment of silence. For about 10 seconds. And that's when they both realized that baby Hope had stopped crying. For the first time in 3 hours, she had stopped crying. "Please Regina, stay.", is all Emma could say, while wiping her tears away. "I need you here."

"No offense Miss Swan but you seem to be handling it quite good.", she whispered, pointing at baby Hope and stating the fact that she had stopped crying. "That's not entirely true, things haven't been easy lately, I-", Emma mumbled but Regina interrupted her. "I highly doubt that.", were her last words as she walked away.

"What is ysour problem? Did I say something wrong? Did I hurt you? Regina, I can handle it, just tell me.", she yelled. Regina kept walking, heading home.

"Is it because I was late? At the coronation? Is it because I stole your moment of glory?" Regina quickly turned around. "Are you kidding me? Why would I be mad at you for being late? You were the only person missing, I kept hoping you'd come in."

"I wasn't the only person missing, Killian wasn't there too.", Emma stated.

"I meant that you're the only person I was missing.", Regina mumbled as she looked away, trying to hide the fact that she had just admit that she missed Emma. There was a long, difficult silence. "I'm sorry, I should-..", Regina started but Emma interrupted her immediately.

"It's good, Regina, it's all good, don't worry.", she reassured her as she walked towards a bench and sat down, placing Hope on her lap. "I'm not the best version of myself either, taking care of a baby is way more exhausting than I thought, I mean like, Killian and I are constantly fighting over little things and it's just too much sometimes. That's why I'm here right now, I needed a walk."

"Yes, me too... I didn't expect today to be the biggest day of my life and I wasn't prepared at all.", she said as she sat down next to Emma. "I've been all over the place these last couple of days, trying to make everybody happy. If they had talked to me about the coronation, I could have slept a bit more and could have looked way better, without those puffy eyes.", Regina laughed.

"Oh trust me, madame Mayor, you were gorgeous. You looked so hot in that dress, that color really suits you.", Emma said while placing her hand on Regina's forearm. Regina's let out a silent gasp and froze for a few seconds which made Emma realize what she had just said and done. Regina's eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face as she looked at Emma again. "Thank you Miss Swan, that means a lot to me.", Regina told her while noticing that Emma's arm was still resting on hers. As she felt Emma's soft touch, she finally had the courage to speak up. "Emma, I've been wanting to tell you this for ages, but I never really knew how."

Emma quickly looked at her, trying to tell her to go on, to tell her what she's been wanting to hear for years.

"It's just that you and me, we've always been here, the two of us and-", Regina was saying until a loud, deep voice yelled: "Emma, you coming?". It was Killian.

Regina glanced and distanced herself from Emma, which caused their arms to let go.

"Yes, I'll be home in a few minutes, just let me finish this conversation, okay babe?", Emma begged but it had no use. Regina got up from the bench already and made her way back to her house. "It's fine, Emma, I just meant that I'm really grateful for this friendship. See you later, miss Swan!" is the last thing she said.

Regina walked into her driveway when she finally let go of her tears. The tears that had been boiling up all evening. Emma touched her, physically, on purpose. She willingly comforted her. She almost told Emma what she felt, she almost destroyed everything. Hope's life, Hook's happiness, Emma's ignorance.

She was halfway the stairs when someone knocked on her door. Regina groaned as she descended again. Henry has been coming by a lot lately and is still too shy to use his own key. "Henry, how many times do I have to tell you, you need to take your keys with you, really, they're yours!", she sighed as she opened her door. As she looked up, she saw the green eyes she's been loving for the last couple of years. The savior's eyes.

"Hi Regina, can I come in?", the angelic voice of the blonde woman answered.