hunnyfresh - Letters from War

The blonde laughed and finished brushing, placing her toothbrush on the counter and turning to Regina.

"You had fun?" Regina asked uncertainly, her palm coming over Emma's on the counter.

"It was the best birthday party I ever had," she answered honestly, linking their fingers before turning and leading them out of the washroom.

"Perhaps we can top it next year."

"About that..." Emma drawled, turning down the covers to what had become her side of the bed.

"You'll be back," Regina insisted, pausing her own actions to stare expectantly at Emma as if daring her to contradict Regina's words.

"I know," the blonde smirked, and despite Regina's acquiescent nod, her hands remained tensed as she focused on turning down the comforter and sitting on the bed to lotion for the night. The faint smell of Regina's lavender cream wafted over to Emma as Regina moved her lotioned hands over her bare legs one limb at a time. It was a habitual nightly routine Regina did before bed, and it wasn't the first time Emma noticed how sensual Regina looked, her palm massaging a firm calf, fingers rubbing deep along her elbow.

She swallowed hard and crawled width-wise along the bed, falling onto her stomach and elbows beside Regina who raised a questioning eyebrow before moving those lithe fingers to her neck to moisturize there.

"You smell good," the blonde commented lamely but took a deep inhale anyway.

It was Regina's turn to smirk as she dotted Emma's nose with a thin line of lotion before putting away the case. "Thank you, dear." When she turned back from the side drawer, a long, golden wrapped, rectangular box was in her hand and a shy smile on her face. "Happy early birthday."

Emma moved onto her side facing Regina with surprised eyes. She should have known Regina would spring for a gift on top of throwing her a birthday party, but the gesture never ceased to amaze the soldier. This woman before her was supposedly the scariest woman in Storybrooke, and maybe she was but Emma could understand why. She knew Regina's story and knew how cautious Regina was, and despite the fact that closing herself off to the masses led to a frosty disposition, it allowed Regina to give herself fully to those she truly cared about, and right now the only people on that list were herself and Henry, and that was pretty freaking mind blowing. "Regina..." Emma said softly, half scold, half amazement.

"It's for your birthday, I'm allowed."

"You can only use that card so many times."

Rolling her eyes, Regina placed the box in front of Emma and urged her to open it with imploring eyes. The blonde adjusted herself on her side to balance more effectively as she slipped a nail under the tape of the wrapping. She repeated the move until she was able to remove the wrapping entirely, revealing the box beneath it. Emma opened it carefully, holding in the small intake of breath when she found a long silver chain with a circle pendant at its end. She held it up to the glow of the bedside lamp, the circle swinging back and forth as the silver caught the light.

"You wrote how you saw one like that when you were sixteen," Regina explained. "I don't know if you still wanted it or-"

"Jesus, Regina," the blonde said breathless, staring past the necklace now to the brunette whose usually chocolate eyes glittered honey. "I really can't accept this."

The brunette looked crestfallen for half a second before her face turned neutral. "I can return it if you don't like it."

"No." Emma sat up, fingering the chain between her thumb and forefinger. "No, I love it."

"Oh," Regina said confusedly, but her mask was gone in place of a pleased smile.

"You've given me so much, I don't even know where to begin with that list," Emma sighed, shaking her head at herself.

"You don't have to give me anything, Emma," Regina consoled, her fingertips lifting up Emma's chin to make eye contact.

"But I want to," the blonde groaned exasperated. "I want to take you out, and show you and Henry Boston or wherever you guys want to go, and I want to give you flowers on your birthday, and I want to see your face light up on Christmas morning, and-" She clasped her hand over her mouth as her brain finally caught up with her tongue, Regina's paralyzed stare having the same numbing effect as her brain.

She fell back on the bed, her arm coming over her eyes while her hand, still clutching the necklace, muffled her voice. "Oh dear god, this was a better plan half an hour ago."

The sound of silence filled the room as Emma continued to berate herself. She certainly took the bull by the horns on this one, but she had a feeling this wasn't exactly what August meant about making it the right time. Regina hadn't said a word. Hell, Regina hadn't even moved from her position. Jesus, she shouldn't have said a thing. At least not now. Not when she still had to face a week with Regina. Oh god, was she reading this entire situation wrong? Maybe she could leave for Boston and catch up with August in the morning. But Henry. The B&B always had open rooms, didn't they?

She bit her lip to keep from saying anything further when familiar fingers tugged her arm away from her eyes and her hand away from her mouth. She kept her eyes closed, holding off on seeing the horrified look of disgust on Regina's face.

A soft palm cupped her cheek, and a warm, minty breath hit her face. "Emma," Regina said softly. And there was the pity, Emma was sure of it.

It took a light tap for Emma to open her eyes to see Regina nearly nose-to-nose with the blonde embarrassingly sprawled out on the width of her bed. The sight up close made Emma gasp out loud before she could stop it. It amazed her how beautiful Regina was that sometimes it hurt just to look at her because no real person could actually look like a Greek goddess. As she stared up into deep honey eyes, for the briefest of seconds she felt as if she was right, she wasn't misreading things, the time was right.

"Hi," Emma said quietly, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Hey." Regina's smile seemed to ease Emma some as her thumb was rubbing soothing circles on Emma's cheek, so gently that it had the power to lull the blonde into a deep sleep if she let it, but she leaned into her touch, their breaths mingling at their closeness.

"You want to do all that?" Regina broke the silence and the inflection in her tone sounded a lot like wonder, but why would someone like Regina have a hard time believing that they deserve something like that?

Emma nodded bashfully, eyes still wide and cautious. "A lot more than that," she admitted. Regina bit her lip, and Emma sat up on her elbows, moving slowly to keep Regina's hand where it was on her cheek because if Regina was about to throw her out on her ass, Emma was willing to move as slowly as she could just to keep her there for as long as possible. "But the only thing I have to give you is me."

The blonde winced at that and fell back on the bed harshly. "Christ, that sounded less corny in my head," she muttered to herself.

She shut her eyes again and missed Regina's suppressed chuckle, but with a few coy fingers dancing along her jaw, Emma opened her eyes to see Regina with a shoulder raised in question, her head tilted to the side as she bit her lip again in contemplation. Finally Regina spoke, and she swore she would ingrain the words on a tag and wear it forever if only to have proof that they were said.

"What if that's all I want from you?"

Emma's heart thudded in her chest, and though Regina hadn't slammed back into the bed as Emma had done, the hesitation in her eyes mimicked that of Emma's. "What?"

"Are you really going to make me repeat it?" Regina snapped, but she didn't move her hand away and, in fact, leaned onto an elbow so that she was parallel with Emma.

"A little bit," the blonde grinned cheekily.