Time Will Tell

Chapter Three

Regina's frozen, her body betraying her and remaining locked into place as the blonde stranger slowly peels apart her long lashes. Regina's eyes double in size as those dancing green irises connect so tenderly with her own, creating a deep shudder to torture her entire body. There's a faint, mischievous little smirk sliding across the woman's face before she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth and holds Regina's gaze. Regina notices right away how her own breathing becomes erratic as she tries and fails miserably to formulate words.

"Where did you come from?" The young girl playfully inquires, her head tilting curiously to the side, across the grass and dirt beneath her amber locks.

The peculiar woman managing to start the conversation first, is what startles Regina back to reality. In a haste, she climbs off the girl, scrambling to her feet and quickly juts out her hand to offer the woman some help off the ground.

Apparently, she still needs to work on teleporting, she wanted to be near the blonde, not on top of her. Well, not yet, that is. She quickly shakes her head, clearing those shameful thoughts from her wandering mind. She never thought of another girl in such a manner and she's certain her mother wouldn't approve, but now this young woman is before her, breathtaking, and she isn't truly confident that she's supposed to spend the rest of her days with a King, rather than a Queen.

The young woman doesn't hesitate to accept the offered hand and happily allows Regina to help her to her feet. Although, Regina is the first to drop her gaze and busy herself with brushing away the dirt and grass sticking to her white nightgown. She berates herself immediately for being so foolish and not having the common sense to change her clothing before teleporting to a strange land.

"I do apologize. I'm so very sorry. I guess I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings," Regina sheepishly offers, instantly painting her cheeks a deep shade of scarlet, so she maintains eye contact with the ground below.

"That's quite alright, but I didn't see you at all. It's as if you fell from the sky," the stranger states in what sounds like a questioning manner.

Regina blushes profusely, even her palms begin to moisten, so she nervously wipes them down her dress and continues to avoid the woman's questioning gaze. She's unsure what this woman would think about her possessing magic or how she has come to find herself there to begin with, so she turns her cheek.

"My apologies," she mumbles mostly to herself.

Out of her peripheral, she notices the stranger gazing heavily upon her, assessing her up and down in confusion. Those sandy-blonde eyebrows furrow together while her thin lips twist in wonderment and Regina can't help but find the facial expression rather adorable.

"Do...do I know you? I'm sure I haven't seen you around our kingdom, but you look an awful lot like my mother's friend," she quizzically rambles while Regina wonders who this woman's mother could be.

Regina's only true friend is Tinkerbell, and she's certain the fairy would not set her up with her own daughter. The only resemblance between the two would be their hair color, but other than that, she looks nothing like the fairy. Regina shrugs her shoulders, not wanting to dwell on the matter.

"I am not from here. Sometimes, I grow rather impatient in my father's kingdom and feel the need to escape."

Technically she's not lying...

"I can appreciate that. Being a princess, a product of true love, can have its downfalls. So much pressure to be perfect. That's why I am out here alone. The woods are my safe haven," the princess confesses, smiling so sweetly and Regina would have to be ignorant not to notice the way her face lit up at the mention of the woods. The stranger suddenly removes her brown leather glove and extends her hand. "Emma."