Happy Endings Aren't Always What We Think They Will Be

It had been 2 weeks since Robin had stepped over that town line. Though Regina could tell you down to the second how long she had been without him. Henry was the only source of true happiness she had now, and as much as she missed Robin, Henry was more than enough. He made her laugh like no one else could, and knew exactly when she needed to hear "It'll be alright, mom" or when she needed a silly knock knock joke, or even when she just needed to sit in silence reading more about Wolverine.

"How much furniture do you think he's destroyed in his lifetime?" Regina cracked, with her focus now on the words in front of her and less on the man over the line. Henry smiled and without missing a beat chuckled, and responded "I bet at least a futon or two…" The two of them looked at each other for a split moment and smiled. Regina slowly turned her head back down to continue on reading, but Henry's gaze lingered. Just then Emma and Belle entered the diner.
Regina only looked up when she heard Emma call her name.

"Regina," Emma bluntly stated her name, obviously with the sole purpose of gaining her attention.

Regina shot her head up, and her eyes widened slightly,

"Yes?" She asked with a tinge of confusion lingering in the air.

"We found something," Belle interjected briefly, a bit of panic in her tone.

"You should come see this." Emma finished Belle's sentence, in an attempt to bring the tone of the statement back down to a much calmer level. Regina stood and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair. She was followed only by seconds by Henry. As soon as he rose to his feet Emma looked at him and took a deep breath,

"Hey kid," Henry stopped and slowly set his scarf around his neck, responding to the nick name he knew to be only his.

"This is gonna be boring grown up stuff, why don't you go finish reading some of your comics. At the library." Emma motioned her hand outwards and to the right.

"If it's okay mom," Henry looked at Emma, then shifted his gaze to Regina, "I'd like to go to mom's. Just be in my room, ya know?" His voice slightly hiccuped, caught up in the pitchy-ness of puberty.

"Ya, of course." Emma smiled, and gave an understanding nod, as she gave him a side hug and kissed his head.

Regina copied this action, and cradled the boys head in her neck for just a second longer than was necessary. An action Henry was all too happy to comply with.
"We'll come get you when we're done." Regina kissed his forehead once again, and he went on his way.

"I'm actually going to go back to," Belle hesitated not quite knowing what to call it anymore

"The shoppe. See what else I can find that may be able to help in some way."

Belle left and headed in the direction of Mr. Gold's pawn shoppe, still unable to openly say the mans name, while Emma and Regina made their way over to wherever this thing is that she had to see, and had to see right now.

_.o0o._

Mary Margaret was sitting in the rocking chair holding Neal in a knitted blue blanket, much like Emma's from when she was just a baby. She was humming a soft tune, nothing particular, just a mellow soothing noise to ease Neal off to sleep.

David stood behind the kitchen island, feet crossed and leaning forward, bracing himself by the palms of his hands.

"You know," He started, as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Mary Margaret sang one last note of her absent-minded tune, and turned her attention to her husband, not missing a beat of the rocking motion.

"Losing love was the thing to push Regina over the edge last time. I know she's come a long way but what if-"

"David." Mary Margaret didn't let him finish the end of his sentence.

"You're right. She has come, SO, far. She has faced the temptations again and again. She hasn't succumbed to it yet," She paused and with one final glide of the rocker eased her way to her feet, and gently bounced her body while swaying side to side to the opposite side of the island David was still perched upon.

"She has been through SO much, and proved herself time and time again. I think it's time we finally give her the benefit of the doubt."

David pursed his lips, and nodded slightly. Just them Emma and Regina entered.

"Hey." Emma nodded her head in a quick acknowledging movement, and continued on towards the table. Regina pursed her lips in a poor attempt of a smile, while avoiding too much eye contact with the Charmings.

"Regina…" Snow started,

"So, what is it that I so urgently needed to see right away?" Regina did not want another hope speech, she didn't try to hide that fact because right now, she was very much not in the mood.

"It's about the town line." Emma continued on as she made her way to the other side of the table, leaning over to pick up a large black leather book.

A small knock was heard at the door as it opened, a courtesy knock at best. As Hook spilled into the room slyly, an impish grin across his face, "Sorry I'm late, loves"

"It's okay, we haven't started yet." Emma reassured him.

"W-wait what about the town line? Is it down, is it-"

"We may have a way to get it down." Emma stopped Regina before she worked herself into too much of a panic.

Regina tried to hide her optimism but she couldn't hold it in for more than a split second.
"Well what are we waiting for? What is it?" She motioned to try and grab the book from Emma.

"Regina," Emma guarded the book as she brought it up towards her chest.

"What?" Regina shot a confused look to each individual person in the room.

"What is is?" She continued, more insistant now.

"It't not going to be easy." Emma said slowly, looking up at Regina through her eyelashes, her eyes dancing between Regina and the floor.

"Well, nothing is ever EASY here, Swan, why should this be any different?" Regina explained, surprisingly calm as she folded her arms across her chest.

"It's just that," Emma started, "It looks like this is going to take power. A LOT. Of power."

"Well, not to state the obvious," Hook interjected, motioning his hook in a small circle,
"But, in this room right now, don't we have two women who happen to possess a, LOT, of power?" The innocent question echoed through the room as Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows in agreement,

"He has a point." She voiced, softer now as Neal made soft cooing noises, continuing to rock back and forth in a desperate attempt to keep him sleeping.

"The pirate has a point." Regina stated bluntly. "The two of us together, we've always been a powerful force. What exactly do you mean when you say it takes a LOT," Regina pulled her hands apart and motioned them as if she was measuring the length of something

"Of power?"

"That's the problem. We don't know. There is remnants of a spell here," Emma brought the book up to her chest and opened it up to the bookmarked page. Looking down at the page she continued on, "but we don't know what it means. We don't know if it'll get rid of our powers once we do… whatever needs to be done-"

"Or if it'll hurt you." David finally chimed in. "The fact is we have no idea what this will do, if we even figure out how to do it. If it's really worth whatever happens,"
Regina's head slowly met David's gaze.

"David," Snow started.

"No." Regina stood up straighter. "He has a point." She says matter-of-factly.

"No. He doesn't." Regina looked up at the voice who said this. A woman she spent half of her life trying to hunt and kill, standing there holding a child, and felt a tinge of confusion pull at her.

"Mary Margaret," David tried but failed to get her to listen.

"No." Snow adamantly spat. "If this was me and you," she continued on, turning slightly to face her true love. "I would never stop. I wouldn't ever give up. I would do anything I possibly could to get you back." David straightened his posture, and gave a compassionate look to his wife.

"And you KNOW that you would do the same." She finished. Everyone looked to Regina,

"Thank you," she started, "but…"

"But?" Emma asked surprised.

"BUT," Regina continued. "I don't want to risk anyones safety. With Gold gone, out there too, probably hell bent on getting back here. Getting back to his wife, or more importantly his power. If we bring that shield down, and he comes back, and we all know he will, we could all be in danger. Unless there's a way we can be one HUNDRED percent sure of finding something that will work, and not harm anyone, I don't even want to to consider it." Regina was now playing with her hands clasped up towards her chest.

"Regina," Emma compassionately tilted her head.

"Look, as much as I want that shield down, as much as I want," She couldn't bring herself to say his name. She swallowed, and sucked her lips into her mouth in preparation. She shook it off and tried to blink the tears away, but failed. She wiped it off her cheek.

"There's a lot of things I want." She tried to continue, but there was a lump in her throat.

"But," she litterally could not make herself speak. She was breaking down, in front of everyone. She felt another tear inch it's way down her cheek, and she wiped it away with more vigor than the last. She took a deep dramatic breath and cleared her throat.

"You can't always get everything you want." She tried to make her way towards the door,

"Regina," Emma grabbed her arm gently. "We are going to find a way. We're going to find him."

Regina, eyes bloodshot, forced another one of her fake smiles.

Everyone watched in awkward silence as she once again turned to face the door.

She turned back to face everyone, and tried her best to not look as broken as she felt.

"Look, I just wanted to thank you. All of you." She licked her lips and drew them into her mouth while clasping her hands in front of her before she continued on, "You've all been, very supportive." The words, though she meant them with all of her heart were almost impossible for her to say. If there was one thing Regina hated, it was being perceived as weak.

"It has meant a lot." She swallowed her pride, and made sure to get this off her chest. She hesitated for a moment longer, accepting everyones sympathetic facial expressions, grabbed her jacket off of the coat rack, and made her way out the door.

"I can't believe she has to go through this again." Mary Margaret wasted no time, as soon as the door closed she chimed in. "When she lost Daniel, because of ME, I…"

"You were only a kid." David defended her from her own thoughts, knowing she was replaying every moment of the event, she knew she had caused, in her mind.

"There has to be a way to get that shield down." Emma shook her head, her hands making their way to the back of her jean pockets. "There has to be something in that… shattered glass story from Arendale that could give us a clue. I know Ingrid kind of improvised a few ingredients to make her curse a little more unique but, she had to get the idea somewhere, had to figure out how to do it. And if she figured out how to do it, we can figure out how to UN-do it." Emma now more determined than ever to get the shield off the town line. Challenge has always been a motivator for her. The more impossible it seemed, the more she wanted to prove to herself she could do it.

"If it's written anywhere Belle will find it."

_.o0o._

Only a few days had passed, when Emma was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, Mary Margaret off in the corner in her rocking chair holding Neal, and David on the couch reading the story of how they had met to their son, when Emma's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Emma! It's Belle…" Emma could only smirk at the fact that not many people understood the meaning of Coller-ID,

"I found something, you guys should come see this-NOW!"