When Regina outright rejected Emma's confession of love for her for the nth time, Emma decided to just respect Regina's decision. Her heart has already been broken into tiny million pieces and maybe it's time for her to stop adding salt to the wound. Because of that, she decided to leave Storybrooke because the small town is already too small for them. So she goes to New York to have a fresh start. And maybe mend her broken heart.
But when something happened to Henry, she needs to suck it up and once again face the woman who was the same reason she left the small town in the first place. And the unexpected changes from Regina when she got back in Storybrooke totally caught her off guard.
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The ringing of her phone stopped Emma from picking up her pile of dirty clothes on the floor. It's laundry day so she decided to do just that since she has nothing better to do. She put the pile in the hamper in the corner then answered the call without even looking who was calling.
"Emma Swan," she answered professionally, thinking it was her boss from the bailbond's collector firm where she was currently working.
"E-Emma?"
She almost dropped the phone she was holding against her ear when she recognized the voice of her former roomate back in Storybrooke.
"Mary Margaret?" she asked breathlessly, still slightly shocked that her friend from the small town in Maine is calling her. Mary Margaret rarely call her unless it has something to do with Henry.
"Yeah. Yes, it's me," the other woman answered.
"What's up?" she asked again then took a seat at the edge of her bed. But silence is the only answer she got from the woman. Silence that made the anxiety in the pit of her stomach grow every second. "MM?"
"Oh, for fucks sake! Let me!" she heard someone said from the background that she knew was Ruby. "Hi, Ems!" Ruby cheerily greeted her with a fake enthusiasm she can feel even miles away.
"What's going on in there, Ruby? Why is Mary Margaret suddenly became silent? Is it Henry?" she asked non-stop. She didn't realized that she stood up from her bed then started pacing.
Another silence aside from the sushed voices in the background is what she can only hear aside from her name, Henry, and Regina.
Emma suddenly stopped pacing when she heard her son's adoptive mother's name. She took a deep breath then scratched the back of her neck.
It's already been a year and a half ever since she left Storybrooke to live in New York. The reason she left? Major heartbreak. The cause? Regina Fucking Mills.
Ever since her son that she gave up for adoption showed up at her door almost five years ago and taking her to the small town where she met his adoptive mother, she must say that her world turned upside down. The ten year old kid just wanted to know her. Know her reason why she gave him away in the first place. So she did. But that was not what the mayor of the small town who happens to be Henry's adoptive mother was thinking at the time. The non-stop threats, the harsh words exchanged back and fort was all they did ever since they met. The other woman even thought that she was taking the kid away from her even when Emma explained time and time again that she has no plans of doing so. So the constant bickering never stopped until they both realized that Emma has no plans of leaving the town. Of leaving Henry. So Emma stayed not just because of the kid, but that was also a new change of scenery. And the longer she stayed at the small town, the more she realized that this kind of quiet life actually suits her even though she grew up in a big city. And also she can prove to the annoying, sassy mayor that she has no plans of taking the kid away from her.
The longer she stayed, the more she spends her time for her son and his other mother. And as time flies by, she and the mayor is suddenly on the same page when it comes to Henry. They are not friends or anything. Just mere acquaintances. And somehow they found a common ground tho the constant bickering between the two of them never stopped. Especially when she became the Sheriff of the small town when the former Sheriff suddenly dies because of a heart attack. So the two of them became Henry's power moms because the two of them always team up whenever there was crisis, big or small, in the town.
In the past two years ever since she stayed in the small town, she woke up one night because of the dream she had featuring the town's Mayor. An intimate dream she may add. And it scared her to death when she saw the other woman in the small diner the next morning greeting her with a smile that she only reserves for Henry. And after she saved Henry in the mine where he tried to rescue the town's only psychologist's dog Pongo after it collapsed because of an unexpected earthquake, things between the women changed into a whole new level.
They started doing things like Emma bringing lunch in the Mayor's office or Regina doing the same or they simply meet in the diner. Sometimes she goes to the woman's manor when she was invited to have dinner there. It's as if they both settled from being mere acquaintances to slightly friends or whatever they call it. But at least Emma knows Regina is regarding her now as Henry's "other mother" instead of "birth mother" and she's okay with it.
But that didn't stopped her mind from thinking intimate thoughts of her and the powerful Mayor. She's only human. And she knows how to appreciate beauty when she sees one. And Regina Mills is a sight to behold.
Emma didn't know when she started having this feelings towards Regina. She just woke up one day and found herself so completely enamored to the gorgeous Mayor. She tried to deny it at first. Because there was no way that what she feels for Regina is more than just simply admiring her. That it's just a simple crush. Nothing more, nothing less.
Until one drunken night when they both had a bit too much to drink that Regina unceremoniously kissed her straight in the lips at the alleyway at the back of the bar. That's when Emma realized that what she feels for Regina is not just simply infatuation. And damn that was scary.
She thought she had a chance because that incident happened again whenever they both go out on a girl's night even though Regina doesn't remember it the next day. So she decided to take the next step.
She confessed her feelings for the other woman.
One that was outright rejected in her face.
But Emma didn't gave up. She did everything she can just to prove the other woman that her intentions are clear. That she was sure of her feelings for Regina. But every single effort was not appreciated by the other woman. And everything between them drastically changed. They are both back from what they are the very first time they met.
No matter how many times Regina rejected her, Emma didn't give up, no matter how much it hurts. She even asked Henry to help her. One that the kid readily agreed to. So when she arrived to the docks where she was supposed to meet Regina, the sight she saw finally broke her last straw.
Because standing near the railing is Regina Mills kissing the man everyone in town knows as Robin Locksley.
Your stupidity stops today, her mind said to her at the time. Stop hoping that she will return your feelings. She'll never want you.
So she did. She stopped all her plans to pursue the other woman. She stopped all together. Because she accepted the fact that Regina Mills will never want someone like her. What's to like in an orphan like her anyway? Her former foster parents and foster homes has already proved it anyway. She's unworthy. No one in their right minds would want someone like Emma Swan. There's no more reason to add insult to injury.
No matter how much everything hurts, she never stopped caring for Henry. Besides, he's all she has. And Henry being a such loveable, understanding, and smart little shit he is, he's always been there for her. Reminding her every single day the he will always want her no matter what. That she was still his mother.
But the pain in her heart became almost unbearabale whenever she sees Regina happy with the forest hobo. That no matter how much she tries to go out of the woman's way or simply ignoring her, the pain is constant that it reached her straight to the bones. So to take away the pain or simply ease it, she did what she knows is the best way to do. She left. But not without saying goodbye to her son and some of her friends she made in the small time she stayed at the small town.
Emma knows that when the time comes for her to leave, Regina was there even though she can't see the woman. She always has this feeling of being observed by the other woman when she's not looking. But she knows that Regina was there. So she stood a little longer outside the apartment building where she was staying with her roommate whilst saying goodbye to her son and her friends, hoping that Regina will show herself up and will stop her from leaving town. But after standing there for ten minutes silently waiting and Henry shaking his head, she gave up. Who was she kidding anyway?
So with a final hugs and goodbye, she get in the bug's driver's side and started the engine. And without another thought, she had driven out of the curb and out of Storybrooke. Never once looking back.
"Emma? Emma, are you still there?"
Emma was taken out of her reverie when she heard Ruby's loud voice from the speaker of her phone. She didn't realized she zoned out after hearing Regina's name from the other side of the line. Those hurtful memories hit her full force.
"Yeah," she croaked then she immediately cleared her throat when she realized that she's also crying. "Yeah, I'm still here. What's with this unexpected call anyway?" she asked, changing the subject because she knows Ruby notices everything and will not stop asking questions once she realizes what's wrong.
Ruby let out a long sigh before clearing her throat. "You need to come back to Storybrooke, Em," she said with finalty.
Emma then let out an exasperated sigh. "Rubes, I thought I made it perfectly clear almost a year and a half ago that I'm not—"
"It's about Henry, Ems," Ruby cut her off.
Emma felt her breath hitched when Ruby said her son's name with so much exhaustion and pain in it. Tone that filled her with dread at the pit of her stomach.
"What about him?" she asked worriedly. "What happened to my son?"
She can feel Ruby's hesitation to answer but she answered nonetheless. "Just come back. We'll explain everything to you when you arrive. This is not something that can be explained over the phone."
"Ruby—"
"Come home, Ems. Henry needs you."
Hours later, Emma found herself on the road driving her precious yellow bug. She never stopped driving, unless it was for gas refill and bathroom breaks, until she saw the Welcome to Storybrooke sign.