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Emma hasn’t thought much about dating since her arrival in Storybrooke (to be fair, there’s been a lot going on and she never really dated since Neal). It just wasn’t her thing. She didn’t really trust men all that much, and it was just easier for things to be one-night-stands. That way, they couldn’t break her heart, and she couldn’t get attached.
So, it’d been quite the surprise after Elsa’s aunt had taken back her curse on herself and ended the chaos with ice walls and magic that she didn’t quite understand, that she found herself interested in dating again… and it is someone rather unexpected.
To her, and everyone else, but she’s kind of excited about it.
“Are you sure these will keep well enough for us to get to the picnic spot?” Emma questions as she and David prepare a picnic for her date.
“Yes, it will be just as good now as it will be when you get to the picnic spot,” David assures her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, quickly and squeezing. “Are you nervous?”
“It’s just different,” Emma admits. “It’s not really something I ever considered before, but something has felt right ever since that night I almost gave up my powers and it doesn’t hurt to give it a try, right?”
Before he can respond, Snow skips into the room, in a much better mood since she’s finally gotten a handle on the whole being Mayor thing since she’s gotten some help from the other Princesses that agreed to be kind of like a council of sorts to deal with Mayor things but the biggest thing is with Snowflake (Emma hasn’t quite admitted to Snow and David that she’s not all that comfortable with the name Neal) sleeping a bit more than usual and David taking on more of stay-at-home dad role since Emma is Sherriff, again. He really only does Sherriff things when Emma’s otherwise engaged.
“Oh!” she claps, smiling brightly. “I’m so excited that we can be here for one of your firsts.”
“I’ve gone on a date before,” Emma replies, trying not to laugh.
“Not with a woman, and a Queen, too,” Snow says, with a smile.
“Not that that matters,” David adds. “After all, I was only masquerading as a prince.”
Emma laughs. “You did inherit George’s kingdom, though.”
“I fought valiantly for it, there’s a difference.”
He’s teasing and joking, and Emma can see Snow shaking her head, smiling.
“Either way, this is exciting,” Snow says, putting Snowflake down in the playpen.
“Yeah, it is,” Emma offers.
She is rather nervous, Elsa’s a queen, and she’s probably used to things in her world not Storybrooke. It hasn’t been that long since she realized that she would have to stay in Storybrooke (although she’s perfectly happy as long as Anna is here) and now has to adjust to the differences that she’d been ignoring before.
Emma and Snow had helped her and Anna find a place of their own (with Kristoff) and had been trying to help them adjust to things, but it was slow going. Storybrooke is vastly different to their homeland.
“You’re going to be fine,” David assures her. “She likes you not because you’re a princess –”
“I’m not a princess,” she interjects.
“Yes, you are,” David retorts, not skipping a beat. She’s been doing that a lot as of late. She doesn’t feel like a princess and even though there are still princesses in the world, she was never supposed to be one of them. “Need I remind you that I wasn’t a prince, either?”
“You married a princess.”
“And you were born one, you just didn’t know it,” David replies as he begins to pack the picnic basket. “The point is, Elsa likes you for you, and she asked you, not the other way around. So, you don’t need to be nervous.”
Emma nods and smiles at him. “Sure, I’ll try not to be.”
“Good and good luck,” he offers as he hands her the basket.
He gives her a hug and kisses her cheek, before Snow hugs her, too. “You’re going to do great, promise.”
“Thanks.”
***
Despite the assurances from her parents, Emma is still surprisingly nervous as she lays out the picnic blanket and their little picnic at the spot by the water that she had picked out for their date. She never had any thought about eating on the ground, but would that be too much for Elsa?
She can’t imagine that Elsa’s spent a lot of time eating on the ground as a Queen, but before she can consider moving the spot, Elsa appears looking much more dressed down than she’d been previously. In fact, she’s wearing the kind of summery dress that she previously thought was just a corset when Emma had worn one for her previous first date with Hook that hadn’t gone anywhere.
The connection with Elsa had just been too strong and ultimately, Emma’s trust issues with men just didn’t lead to a great relationship.
“Wow, Emma, this is beautiful,” Elsa says, as she joins her at the blanket, smiling brightly, hair still her customary braid.
“You look beautiful, too,” Emma offers, smiling at her and gesturing for her to sit.
“Thank you,” Elsa says, smiling. “It’s quite a bit different – the clothes here, but it’s good that this is – is okay.”
“It’s fantastic,” Emma admits. The dress looks good on her, and as she sits leaning to one side with her legs tucked under her, she looks a lot less than a badass Queen and more like a young woman that hasn’t gone on many dates herself.
“Anna helped me pick it out, I – uh, I haven’t gone on many dates and my clothing choices back home were all… very formal,” Elsa admits nervously.
Emma smiles. “I’ll admit that I’ve been on many first dates – but never with a woman, so,” she picks up the glasses of wine that she’d poured as she waited for Elsa to arrive and offers one to her. “Here’s to an awesome first date with an awesome woman.”
Elsa smiles, bright and eyes twinkling. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.”