Fandom: Once Upon a Time (AU)

Pairing: Swan Queen

Rating: T

Summary: It’s Emma’s 28th birthday and she makes a wish.

Disclaimer: I own nothing beside my crazy mind and my computer… and sometimes it’s more them owning me…

Note: evilneverfeltsogood and obsessivelyaddictive, thanks for beta-reading it!

Please, dear readers, let me know what you think about it. It’s really important to me.

Part 1

The freaking Evil Queen is in your living room because you wished for love. Let’s take a second to process that….

“Are you okay dear? you look pale.” there is everything but concern in her voice.

Oh God and she talks. Of course Emma she talks! Are you stupid now?! Maybe she can fix this…

“Look uhm… I may have an idea as to why you’re here…” you’re fidgeting and avoiding her gaze. How to explain all of this is your fault. There isn’t a thousand way to do so… Tell the truth, Swan.

“Oh please do share! I can’t wait to know who you’re working for…” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. You are used to that though. All evil queen she might be, she is not scaring you.

“It’s my birthday today… And I-“

“Oh no… don’t tell me you made a wish… and that’s the reason I’m here…”

“well… actually yes… I made a wish… and the second I blew the candle there you were in the hallway”

She suddenly gets up and begins pacing. Again. She paces a lot… maybe it’s a hobby for her, who knows…

“Calm down, Regina…” you don’t have time to finish your sentence as she snaps at you and grabs your throat. You can feel her long fingers around your neck. Their strength is pretty obvious and unexpected. Would she want you dead, she’d only have to squeeze a little harder. However, her eyes are saying other things : she is frightened.

“Calm down?!” her voice is a low growl “how should I do that?! you and your stupid wish trapped me here! I have no way to go back to where I’m from unless the wish is fulfilled! So tell me, stupid blonde, what did you wish for? So that we may get on with it ! And I already told you, it’s your Majesty to you!”

You want to answer but the grip is too tight and only a weak and pathetic sound comes out of your mouth. That’s when you realize she is playing with you, like a child would with a bug, a cruel game with an uncertain end.

She is musing on letting you live or killing you right here, right then. That’s your cue, you have to talk. You wrestle a bit against her hand and finally there is a bit of air filling your lungs again and allowing you to speak.

“You need me, you majesty!’ at your words, she looses a bit, so you keep talking “you need me because you don’t know what the wish was and which part I’m playing in it” she thinks about it. Pondering. And finally she withdraws her hand completely and sits back on the couch, like nothing happened. You rub your sore neck and force yourself into deep breaths.

“I realize that I don’t know what to call you. You haven’t introduced yourself.” she makes it sound like it’s your fault.

“hey! you came into my home! and you began to insult me and now you just abused me! Don’t you think it was your place to ask for who I am?!” you can’t believe how unnerving this woman is! She looks at you, startled, probably not used to people talking back at her… her eyes are glistering and she looks away when she answers you.

“yes… you are right… I’m sorry…” you can tell she isn’t used to say it because it was barely above a whisper “what is your name, dear?” the evil in her voice is gone. The sweetness in it and the contrast in her attitude is almost a shock. She looks like the sweetest person in the world. You take a couple of second to really look at her. Her dress is actually not a dress. There are leather pants under the coat-like thing she is wearing. Red and black. Not exactly the colours you’d have chosen for Snow White’s Evil Queen, Disney was all purple about it, but this is so much better. And the leather pants are hugging her legs in the most perfect way. Her hair are up in a very long ponytail and her make-up is flawless. You already thought she was utterly beautiful earlier, but now… she is goddess-like beautiful!

She must have caught you staring cause the sound of clearing throat gets you out of your reverie.

“Yes… uhm… right… My name is Emma… Emma Swan.” you extend your hand as a greeting and she looks down upon it, rising an eyebrow. “Oh… it’s customary here to shake hands when introduced. It’s easy, Majesty, just put your hand in mine” you smile at her. You are surprised when she actually does it.

“Yes and so what now?!” she asks, eyeing your still joined hands. And you begin to shake them slowly.

“Now, we’ve introduced ourselves properly. Could we please keep talking like this, and avoid aggression?! I’m really not into that kind of play…” what the hell, Swan?! you can’t believe you just said that…

“Too bad for you, Emma.” she gives you a wicked smile and changes the topic just as fast “Happy birthday by the way. You must be older than you seem, you son is already 10 as he told me” and of course here comes the sneaky comments again… You sigh. It was too good to be true.

“Not that it’s any of your concern, I am 28 years old today. And I forbid you to talk to my son until we figure… *this*… out” you say, showing her entire self.

“You forbid me?! Really?! Do you realize I can tear this entire place down and have a castle instead just with a snap of my fingers?! And you, insignificant little thing, you forbid me?” she laughs at your face now.

“Do you realize, you arrogant self-centered bi- Queen, that without this insignificant little thing, you’ll be stuck here forever?” how can she make you go from soft and caring to “I really want to kill the bitch” with a couple of words?! I shouldn’t have made that wish… Better left alone than with that… her mouth forms a perfect O shape just before she strikes back.

“But without you, Emma dear, I would be at King George’s castle, trading my… prisoner and having a great meal and an even greater time! And with better company!” that would probably mean something to you if you knew what she was talking about… She has a point though. If you haven’t made that wish, she wouldn’t be here and you would be watching the Avengers with your son, enjoying your birthday evening. However, she is hotter than Scarlett Johansson, says that stupid little voice in your head. Oh shut up, brain!

“I think this will lead us to nowhere. Let’s start again. Hello, I’m Emma and I’m sorry about the wish” you extend your hand again. This time she takes it without hesitation.

“Hello Emma, I’m… well I wouldn’t say delighted to meet you but… you seem nice.”

You know she did her best. So you let it go. No point in arguing manners with the Evil Queen, right?

You see her trying really hard to hide her yawn and realize it’s already really late. Henry must be sleeping now. You should go check on him.

“Majesty, my son-“

“-is probably ready for bed now. You should go check on him. As I said, family is the most important thing. Go. It’s not like I’m going anywhere anyway…” her face is so soft when she mentions family or children. You want to ask why but keep from it. Not yet. You get up and walk to your son’s bedroom. Leaving her in the living room, hoping she won’t do anything foolish.

You scratch at the door and open it

“Hey buddy? Asleep already?” you ask quietly, just in case. But you see him sitting up in his bed, a book in his hand, as usual. You sometimes wonder if it’s normal for a kid this age to prefer a book to video games or tv… but then you realize, he is not normal. He is your son. He is extraordinary.

“Mom, tell me! Who is she?! She is weird… And she kept insulting you. But she was nice to me… I tried to defend you!” he is speaking fast with sparkles in his eyes.

“Shhh don’t worry… I’ll explain all this to you tomorrow. Don’t worry. She won’t hurt you. Now put down that book, it’s time for you to sleep.” you say as you lay down, kiss on his forehead and take the book away.

“But mom… one more chapter!”

“Henry… it’s already way past your bedtime. You’ll read it tomorrow morning.”

He yawns and agrees. Once you reach the door he was already asleep. “Goodnight baby” you say as you turn off the light.

Now, time for explanation. It won’t be easy. A million thoughts are going through your head as you walk back to the living room, And as you enter, you stop dead in your tracks.

“What the hell?!” you can’t help yourself. She is standing there, with a great big genuine smile upon her face.

“Oh I hope you don’t mind, I redecorated a little bit… It was really… weird here… I wanted to make it better… it’s more like my castle now… You’re welcome.”