katleept

Title: Day of Change
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Character/Pairing: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma), Snowing (Charming/Snow), Henry, implied Sleeping Warrior (Mulan/Aurora) and RumBelle (Rumplestiltskin/Belle) and others
Rating: G/K
Challenge/Prompt:

abc_onceupon: Town Picnic
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,323
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.

They walk through the park, hand in hand. Regina is stiff and stoic, her dark, needling eyes daring every one by whom they pass to say something, but no one has. The Savior by her side is the complete opposite, smiling at all and full of love not just for the woman beside her but for this whole town. Regina can scarcely blame her; after all, most of them are either already her family or unofficially adopted into their fold by her mother.

"Regina," Emma says through the side of her smiling mouth, "cut it out. No one here means you any harm. They're not going to do anything to you or us."

"These are the same people, Emma," Regina grits back, "who wanted to see me burned at the stake just a short while ago."

Emma just shrugs. "That was when you were evil, but you're not any more. They've seen that. They've seen it in how you've changed, how you've helped just about every one of them, in your love for Henry . . . " She turns and kisses her cheek before Regina can pull away from her. "In your love for me," she concludes, still all bright eyes and smiles.

"I'm glad you think that."

"Emma! Regina!"

"Oh, great," Regina snaps. "Here comes your mother."

But Mary Margaret seems almost as bright as her daughter. It is Prince who seems out of sorts as his wife almost drags him along behind her. "I'm happy for them, too," Regina can hear David grumbling, "but do we really have to congratulate all of them, Snow? It's not like they're married yet."

"Yet being the operative word," Snow White shoots back at her husband, her eyes twinkling with joy and mischief. "As Mayor, I'd be happy to marry them all right here right now today!"

David laughs and mentally surrenders to a day meant to be full of celebrations.

"I bet you would," Regina almost growls. She'd like to marry me with a sword through my heart. But even as she thinks the words, she knows she's not being fair to Snow White. Snow as a kid when she wronged her all those years ago, and if she had married Daniel, as happy and in love as she'd thought they were, she never would have met Emma. None of this would have ever come to pass. Snow has had plenty of times to do her wrong since then, and for the most part, she has not.

"Regina!" Emma snaps at her girlfriend, but the former Evil Queen just shrugs.

"I'm so happy for you two." Mary Margaret is almost bubbling over when she reaches them.

"Mom!" Emma cuts embarrassed eyes at her mother a second before she is enveloped in her arms, her hand accidentally snatched out of Regina's.

Regina fumes silently beside the pair while David chuckles again. "Easy there, Emma. She may be planning your nuptials."

Emma looks wide-eyed at Snow. "Really, Mom? Already?" is all she can ask, but Regina speaks before she can silence her imperial tongue.

"To me?" Her disbelief and fury are crystal clear in her tone.

Snow releases her daughter and stands before the woman who has been both her stepmother and her greatest foe. She raises her chin a notch to show her determination and meets her angry gaze without blinking. "Yes," she answers firmly, "to you. Is it really so hard to believe that I want you to be happy, Regina?" There are a thousand answers on the tip of Regina's tongue, but Snow continues before she can decide which one to use. "Or that I want my daughter to be happy with the person she loves regardless of who that person is?"

"I . . . I . . . " Regina stops and slowly shuts her mouth. She still looks doubtful as she gazes directly back into Mary Margaret's eyes. There is so much history, so many years, and so many wrongs between them, but if there is one thing Snow White is, it is devoted to her family, especially to her husband and daughter. She feels as though the world can see the realization finally dawning in her eyes as she whispers, her skin a little paler. "I guess not."

"MOMS!" Henry shouts from several feet away, but his speed still takes his mothers by surprise. Emma turns to embrace him as her mother reaches out and steadies her lover.

Regina looks at Snow in surprise, but the other woman's arms are already wrapping around her. "I'd say welcome to the family," she speaks quietly, emotionally to which David interjects, "Still not married yet!"

"But you never really left," Snow concludes, hugging Regina tightly.

A hug breaks them apart. Emma pushes Henry between herself and Regina. Her parents step forward, each of them falling into fighting stances, but Granny stands, laughing, in the direction in which every one is looking. She pushes her glasses back up onto her nose and smiles at them all. Shrugging, she explains, "Somebody had to do something to get all of your attention, or is this going to be a festival without food?"

Laughter rings around them all as every one begins to move to the tables where Granny and Red have set out all kinds of scrumptious dishes. Regina braces herself for the reception she expects to receive as she follows into the growing crowd with her family. Snow has released her and returned to Charming's side, but Henry is on one side of her and Emma on the other. Emma quietly takes her hand and gives it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. The words, "You don't have to be afraid," are on the tip of the Savior's tongue, but she swallows them, knowing her True Love is far too proud to ever admit to any such trivial fears.

If there's anger or hatred in Granny's eyes when she serves her plate, Regina can't find it. Red actually smiles at her when she places a cupcake with rainbow frosting on her plate. "Calories don't count today," she teases, and even if Grumpy doesn't have a harsh word for her (although it's much more to Snow's warning look at the Dwarf than anything else) when he hands her a drink. The townspeople are milling all around them, but no one is stopping to stare at her or proclaim she doesn't belong here.

Finally, when all the plates are served and at his wife's urging, Rumplestiltskin holds up his glass and nods at Emma and Regina, Mulan and Aurora, two of the Dwarves, and the other couples amongst their number who would once have been considered special for all the wrong reasons. "Here's to you, dearies," he toasts them to a chorus of agreement from the rest of the town, "and the rest of your lives together."

"The rest of our lives," Emma whispers next to Regina, squeezing her hand again. Regina looks around them, knowing Emma doesn't just mean them but all of them, all her family and friends, all the townspeople, all the people who once, not so long ago at all, feared and hated her but who also love her girlfriend. Rumplestiltskin winks directly at Regina as he sips his champagne, and she knows she is included not just in his toast, not just in Emma's family for today, but in their family for the rest of their lives.

She raises her glass, takes a sip, and then truly celebrates, kissing her girlfriend on the lips for the whole town, their whole world, to see. Henry's jubilant cry just encourages Emma to deepen their kiss. Snow squeezes Charming's hand, grinning and almost as happy as her daughter and her soon-to-be fiancee. "See?" she asks, smiling triumphantly. "What did I tell you? It's just a matter of time." David laughs and kisses her, not caring how much their family grows or by whom as long as they're all happy, loved, and safe.

The End

(((Ahem . . . And . . . I just have to go there . . . YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 )