A/N: Saw the prompt on Tumblr and couldn't resist. S3 AU

Prompt: there's always headcanons about Regina forgetting to eat, but what about Emma?

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing."

- Unknown

Growing up in the foster system, she was used to many different situations. Some families saw her as one of their own but couldn't keep her. Others saw her as a punching bag. She'd been through a dozen different families before she'd been twelve. One family she'd been with when she was eight used her as a meal ticket. Her clothes were always tattered, and she was constantly hungry. At lunch at school, she'd scarf down anything she could get her hands on. It only took her trying to get some food out of the fridge to send her back to a group home. When she was eleven, she was with a nicer family; she could eat regular meals, and her clothes were nice. She never went to sleep hungry. But they had a kid on the way and couldn't keep her. And so she was sent back, and the pattern continued. Sometimes it was a good home, and sometimes it wasn't, and that sent her into her own pattern where sometimes she just forgot to eat.

By the time she made it to Storybrooke, the pattern wasn't that prominent. As a bail bondsperson, she usually ate during her stakeouts, was able to buy her own food. With everything that happened in the last three years, sometimes she loses track of time. She'll be doing paperwork at the station, and she'll just forget.

The first time Henry really noticed it was after the time travel adventure. He'd moved back in with his Mom, and Emma was working on trying to find an apartment, so she was staying with his grandparents. He and Mom would meet her at Granny's before school so she could walk with them to the bus stop.

Today though, Mom had to go into work early, so it's just him and Emma. He grins as he walks next to her. He has this idea for a new operation, but before he can, the sound of her stomach rumbling gives him pause.

"Geez, Ma. Didn't you have breakfast this morning?"

She gives a little laugh, "I actually overslept today and didn't get a chance. I'll make sure to get lunch. I'm already dreaming of Granny's grilled cheese." Her stomach grumbles again and he frowns at her.

"You can go back to Granny's for breakfast, Ma."

She shrugs, "It's ok, kid. Besides, I'd hurt your grandma's feelings if I didn't eat her food."

He drops the subject, but as soon as he's on the bus, he pulls at his phone and texts his mom.

When Regina steps into the Sheriff's station at noon that same day, she can barely see Emma through the mountain of overdue paperwork. The Sheriff is bent over her desk, pen in hand, signing documents. Charming isn't in the office, and judging by the missing patrol car, it's a safe bet he's on patrol. She steps into the office, taking note of the blonde. The rumbling from the blonde's stomach doesn't seem to be distracting her, eyes focused entirely on the document in front of her.

"Sheriff Swan."

Emma looks up at her, a smile appearing on her lips, "Madame Mayor. What can I do for you today?"

"Henry told me you weren't able to get breakfast. I'm here to escort you to lunch."

"Escort me? I'm not 5, Regina. Besides, I've got too much paperwork."

"Nonsense," she steps closer to her, grabbing her jacket off of the rack by the filing case, "I can hear your stomach from across the street."

"Regina, I'm really not that…"

She doesn't wait for her to finish the sentence, engulfing them both in her magic. They appear outside of Granny's, and she nods at Ruby as they enter and take a seat; the waitress heads over to them, a smile on her lips.

"Our usuals please, Ruby."

"Coming right up."

When the food arrives, she waits until Emma digs into her grilled cheese and fries before starting on her own meal.

David returns from his patrol a few hours later; Emma was still in the same spot as when he left, a large stack of overdue paperwork around her. It doesn't look like much has changed, so maybe she did get a chance to get some food.

He opens the bag of fruit snacks he'd grabbed from the loft that morning, tossing one at her. It hit her desk, making her look up.

"David. How was patrol?"

"The usual. Did you get a chance to get lunch?"

She rolls her eyes slightly, turning back to the paperwork, "Yeah. Regina all but dragged me to Granny's."

"You do need to take breaks, you know."

"I know," she grumbled, and he tossed another snack at her, "Stop that."

He grinned, "Am I distracting you?"

"David," she growled, tossing the snack back.

He caught it in his mouth, causing her to smile slightly, "Just trying to make sure you remember to eat."

Snow makes meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner, and she swears Emma's had three slices before she or Charming have finished one. She's eating like she hasn't eaten in weeks, but Charming had told her, and Regina had confirmed, that Emma had had lunch at noon. She sets her fork down.

"Emma, slow down. You're eating like you haven't all day."

"Sorry," her daughter grins, wiping her mouth with a napkin, something she must have started doing after hanging around Regina, and grabs more potatoes, "This is really good."

She smiles at the compliment.

"Thank you, but Emma, please. You'll make yourself sick."

She's relieved when her daughter actually listens.

She's sound asleep when the sound of her phone's alarm going off jolts her awake. Bleary-eyed, she grabs at the device, checking the time, only to groan. 7:30. Too early for her to actually function. It continues to beep at her, and she catches the name of it. Eat, you idiot, before I make you. She smiles softly, rubbing her eyes as she silences the device, before standing and getting ready for the day.

The next time she hears the alarm, it's ten til noon. She has a mountain of paperwork to finish, but this time, the alarm reads I'm picking you up in ten for lunch. When Regina arrives ten minutes later, she's shrugging on her jacket and grabbing the patrol car's keys. Regina rolls her eyes and takes the keys.

"Magic is faster," she quips, tossing the keys to David before they're poofing to Granny's.

Regina shocks her when she offers the invite to dinner at the mansion that night, but the thought of passing up Regina's food makes her accept almost immediately. So when her alarm goes off at 6:45 and she's still at the station, the message of Dinner in 15 has her poofing herself back to the loft to change.

Henry hugs her when he opens the door, and she accepts it with a smile. Sometimes at 13, he still shocks her. Regina calls from the kitchen to have a seat and that dinner will be out shortly.

Regina's lasagna is better than Granny's, and she tells her as much.

"Suck up," Henry mutters, and she rolls her eyes, kicking him lightly under the table.

Later that night, after Henry's gone to bed and she and Regina are sitting on the couch in the front room sipping wine, she finds herself opening up.

"You know, I never did thank for you the alarms."

Regina, in typical Regina fashion, plays it off, "I don't know what you're talking about, Emma."

"When I was in the foster system, there were some families that just pocketed the check from the state. Some families I actually got to eat decent. Sometimes, if a social worker was coming over, they'd make sure we'd have food." She glances over at the former Queen to find her watching her, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I got so used to being hungry that I don't really notice it. So the alarms you set, they're really helpful, Regina."

Regina reaches over and places a hand on her knee, squeezing softly, "It's no trouble, Emma." She pulls away and scoffs, "Besides, Henry would be worried if anything were to happen to you."

She smiles.

Henry. Sure, Regina.

A/N: And there we have it. I'm not writing more. This is a one-shot. Tell me what you thought!