hunnyfresh - Letters from War

She nipped at Regina's bottom lip before pressing hot kisses along Regina's jaw. She finally reached the older woman's ear where she licked the shell, causing an eruption of laughter from Regina as the brunette's ear and shoulder met in protection and she pulled back playfully from Emma.

"You're ticklish there," Emma discovered with a pleased grin, hovering over the cowering brunette.

"I was surprised," Regina said petulantly, crossing her arms over her chest with a glare.

"Oh really?" Emma untangled Regina's arm and weaved them around her neck.

"Mmhmm." Regina's eyes were already fluttering shut as Emma zeroed in on her neck. She thread her fingers through blonde locks, pressing the younger woman to her. It wasn't until she let out another yelp and pushed Emma away did Regina realize that the blonde was making her way up her neck, licking into the shell of her ear again. "Fine," Regina glared. "It's ticklish there."

The blonde grinned and nibbled on the lobe of Regina's ear, pressing her body into the older woman's as Regina tried to suppress the giggles wracking her body. It was a half moan half laugh Emma was able to elicit from the brunette, but as her fingers danced along the plane of Regina's taut stomach, Regina shuddered hotly, using her arms around Emma's neck to pull her impossibly closer.

But then the blonde stopped kissing her with a quizzical look on her face. "Hey, did you call my car a monstrosity when I came here."

Regina rolled her eyes, not even apologizing, and silenced the thought with another searing kiss.

The airport was eerily quiet for two in the morning. Emma, Regina, and Henry were in Boston International Airport and had been for the past couple of hours.

Emma had said goodbye to Storybrooke sometime after dinner where the trio had spent their last night together making mini pizzas, and to both Emma and Henry's delight, apple turnovers with ice cream. They would have left sooner, but the women discovered that Henry, who had woken up while they were preoccupied on the back porch, had hidden Emma's duffel under the bed and her shoes were tossed down the basement steps. Her boots especially had taken them quite a bit of time to find. Emma had to admit, the kid was pretty clever at only three years old. He definitely got it from his mom. She wondered, not for the first time, what kind of mischief the kid was going to get into when he got older.

The Benz followed the Volkswagen all the way to Boston where Emma dropped off her car in the storage locker. Bags were deposited into the Mercedes as Regina drove them to the airport, arriving there just after midnight.

It was a relatively smooth process checking the blonde in, and once everything was deemed to be in order, it was now just a waiting game for the boarding call.

Henry had knocked out ages ago, sometime between Augusta and Gardiner, and according to Regina, he had gladly entertained his mother with a never ending game of I Spy before the car ride lulled him to sleep. Many a tree were spotted on Regina's drive down to Boston. Henry managed to perk up when both women needed a stop over at a small coffee shop in Biddeford to stretch their legs and refresh their stomachs. He was currently sleeping on the chair beside Regina, the older woman's jacket wrapped under his head as a makeshift pillow with Rex tucked under his arm. He had promised Emma that she would get to keep him for real, but the blonde was content with letting the little man have Him. He needed him more than she did.

"You're gonna be okay, right?" Emma asked breaking the silence, threading her fingers with Regina's as they lay on the armrest.

"I'm not invalid," Regina said with a forced huff, though the edge wasn't in her voice.

"I know," the blonde reassured, stroking her thumb over the back of Regina's hand.

A quiet discontent settled around them again as Emma thought how quickly this month had flew by. She remembered getting easily bored at August's during the day, and a part of her had almost wanted to return back to the base for a little more purpose, but she was so grateful that August had all but kicked her out of his place in her search for Regina. Despite the sadness she felt for leaving, she couldn't help but be happy that she had a place to call home, though a part of her was hesitant to call it that just yet, something innate knew that was what Storybrooke was. Home. A place to miss. People she knew would be difficult not to see on a daily basis. Someone to dream about. Someone to care about her. Yeah, it was definitely home.

Regina's eyes fought the tiredness of the late night and the five-hour trip, and Emma felt a twinge of guilt that once again this woman who had no obligation to her whatsoever had somehow climbed past Emma's wall and was willing to give the blonde a shot. It amazed her that a woman like Regina could even exist. But here Regina was, sporadically widening her eyes to bat the sleep away as her head rested against Emma's arm.

"You can sleep," the blonde suggested. "I'll wake you when I have to board."

At that, Regina snapped her head up and shook her head, clearing the tiredness away with force as she pressed her palms to her cheeks. "I'm fine."

"You're tired."

"I booked a hotel for Henry and I," Regina explained. "Long weekend," she added dryly.

"Is there anything you're not prepared for?" Emma teased, laughing when Regina smirked with a raised eyebrow that personified the fearsome Madam Mayor.

"First class ticket holders for Flight 436 to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, please make your way to the terminal."

At the announcement, Emma stood and picked up her rucksack. "I'm just gonna change quickly."

Regina nodded, watching as Emma headed out of the waiting area to the large hallway where the washrooms were held.

Regina was unaware she was biting her thumb until she nipped too hard on her cuticle and winced at the pain. The anxiety in her at the thought of Emma leaving rivalled that of when her father passed away. It was fine, she told herself. It wasn't like Emma was being shipped off to war. She was simply heading back to Benning for the time being. She could very well complete her service simply by being on Reserves for the remainder of her term. Many soldiers completed their service without going on tour. There was nothing to worry about.

The logic should have eased Regina's racing mind but all it served to do was force her to picture Emma in the midst of warfare, shots firing, land mines erupting, and buildings burning. If Regina had an overactive imagination from mere wonderings of Emma's experiences, she couldn't comprehend what the blonde's nightmares were like.

Regina scowled to herself at her pessimism. The military wasn't always like that – guns, bombs, and prisoners of war. She had read that many soldiers enjoy their time serving, making lasting relationships with peers, and learning skill sets that were transferable in the workforce. That was Emma. She was a survivor. She'd be fine.

A soft moaning sounded beside her, and she snapped her head to Henry who was curled uncomfortably on the chair, whimpering in his sleep.

"Shhh," she soothed, rubbing one hand along his back while the other brushed the much too long locks of brown hair out of his eyes. She had nearly convinced him to get a haircut, but Emma had said that if he wanted to look like Jim Hawkins, he'd have to pierce his ear. The blonde looked almost smug, expecting Henry to clutch his ears and scream out preemptively at the sting of the piercing gun and try to chop off his hair instead. She was wrong. Now Henry wasn't letting anyone near him with a pair of scissors or a razor.

His eyes fluttered open though they drooped, wanting to succumb to sleep.

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart."

Even in his half-awake state, Henry's eyes shifted around swiftly. "Where's Emma?" Without being given an answer his eyes started to water in fear before Regina quieted him down again with soft humming.