So Does This Make Us Both The Other Woman?

14. Breaking Things (Self-Made Rules And Promises And Emma Swan)

She sits on a bench near the park, staring into the water as her reflection in it wavers and twists and distorts. It's not entirely unlike what she sees in the mirror these days, this shifting person too slippery to decide where she belongs anymore. Somehow she'd thought that once Zelena was defeated, once Henry was back with her and she'd found Robin, this could be the simplicity she'd once dreamed of with Daniel. The happily-ever-after that had never been in the cards for her.

And now she's questioning it all, and she can't help but feel wary about that like she's tempting new pain by thinking about rejecting the good that she's found. By searching for excuses and confirmations and...

She glances up and sees Emma making her way around the pond to her, wrapped in her coat and still a bit peaky, and the smile that springs to her face is entirely unconscious. Emma. They may never be together, but as long as she has Henry and Emma and their idiot family, she can't imagine that she'll be too unhappy.

But this isn't just about her.

Emma offers her a bright smile of her own before she turns, and Regina finally notices her companions. Hook, of course, trailing behind her like the useless shadow he is, and beyond him...

"You got my text. I found your fairy!" Emma announces, gesturing grandly at Tinkerbell. "It wasn't easy. No one knew where she'd been and she doesn't have a cell phone yet, so I wound up having to use all my bail bonds person skills to research locations and cross-examine the nuns and then she showed up on the Jolly Roger looking for Hook. So...I found her."

She looks very pleased with herself, and Hook mumbles, "She's done nothing but search for her for days. What could possibly be so important that you needed Tink so urgently?"

Emma shrugs. "Regina asked." She says it like it's reason enough, and Regina can't stop her smile from widening. Emma ducks her head and grins back, the colour back in her cheeks, and the resulting warmth in Regina's chest feels like home.

She swallows, meeting Tink's eyes at last, and the fairy offers her a small smile. They hadn't left things on a positive note last time they'd spoken, and they're both still on guard, waiting for the inevitable clash again. "Thank you, Emma," she murmurs. "Do you mind...?"

"Oh! Sure." Emma pulls on Hook's hand and the pirate follows her. He's still holding onto her hand but she doesn't seem bothered by it, not even when she glances back at them. The smile has faded from her face and she looks oddly intent, and Regina wonders if Emma knows why she's been searching for Tink.

"She's happy with him, you know," Tink says quietly, and there's that tension in her voice again. "I don't know what you want from me, but I won't–"

She cuts her off before frustration at Emma and Hook and whatever Emma's true feelings are bubbles up again. "I want to know that I'm not Robin's happy ending."

Tink blinks and sits down. "What?"

"I was in love before him. He was in love before me. And now I'm...I have feelings for someone else." She's fooling no one, but she inhales deeply and tries not to look at Emma and Hook, still walking along the side of the pond opposite from them. "What makes my relationship with Robin any different than the rest of those? Why is it the one we're supposed to be saddled with all our lives?"

Tink shakes her head. "A true love is different from a soulmate. Some fall immediately in love, yes, but more often true love springs up over time as affection grows. Your son is certainly your true love, but you might have another in someone else important to you- Snow White, perhaps?"

She must be trying to provoke Regina by now, and Regina flares up. "Excuse me?"

The fairy holds up a hand. "What I mean is that true love isn't as rare as some might say. But a soulmate...you only get one in your lifetime. And pixie dust is never wrong. Robin Hood is your soulmate."