For the majority of Regina's life her birthdays had been and gone without much fuss. Regina had grown to keep her expectations low for that day. The past year- or six years- had been so busy, what with all the fighting, almost dying, crying, then actually dying, coming back to life, and realm travelling. Hell, you name it and the Charming and Mills families have done it all over the past several years. Six years of magical lead up to the final battle, and ironically to end it, Regina- with the help of Rumpelstiltskin and the Saviour- had to rid Storybrooke of magic. Although the town was beginning to settle now that the final battle had been fought- and magic had once again become a figment of young children's imaginations- The Charming and Mills families were still in clean up mode. It was to such an extent that Regina was sure that the only two people in Storybrooke that actually knew when her real birthday was would let it completely pass them by. But perhaps that wouldn't bother her too much, perhaps it would be too painful anyway- It was Regina's first birthday after Robin had died. Robin had passed away just under a year ago. His death was noble and honourable. In his final moments Robin saved Regina from a horrible death at the hand of Hades.

Regina had been stuck in her office all day. Meetings back to back and no time for lunch. Regina didn't mind working, but it was getting dark out now and her stomach was beginning to rumble. Regina stood from her chair and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt. With a sign Regina gathered her paper work promising herself she would finish it later that night. It was as Regina was putting everything into her briefcase that she noticed a small white envelope.

Regina separated the envelope from the rest of her papers and gave it a once over. There was nothing on it but her name, in delicate swirling hand writing. Regina's curiously got the better of her and she finally pulled out the contents. A simple black card with large blue moon and the caption 'It's your birthday! Let's have a moon dance.' Regina smiled curiously at it for a moment, it seemed completely out of character for either Snow or Henry to give her such a card.

May the wind guide you
may the earth teach you
with a world of growing
may you never stop knowing
the beauties of nature
and the universe's ongoings

Find strength
in the warmth of the sun
find shelter
in the depths of the ocean

Explore the world
until your feet move no more
read every word
until your eyes grow sore

With a life
full and long
keep learning
keep searching
keep growing
and nothing will go wrong.

The poem was beautiful, Regina thought. But still, she was confused, to her knowledge Snow hadn't taken up poetry and Henry, well Henry had given her a card early that day. Regina examined the card once from in search of a name, or a clue as to who it was from, but nothing was found. With a warm smile Regina placed the card into her bag and was on her way.

"Henry?" Regina called after making her way into the foyer of her large suburban manor.

"In here!" Henry replied.

Regina followed his voice into the kitchen where she found him at the stove. "Henry?" Regina asked curiously as she placed her bag on the bench.

"Happy Birthday, Mum," Henry smiled easily as he moved away from the stove. "Thought I'd give you the night off from cooking."

"Oh Henry," Regina smiled and took her son into a hug. Henry had always been so thoughtful.

"Did you have a good day?" Henry asked as he moved back to the stove.

"I did. Back to back meetings, endless paper work, what more could I want." Regina smirked, knowing her son wouldn't take her seriously.

"Nothing good happened at all?" Henry scrunched up his face.

"Well I did get a mystery card," Regina offered with a small laugh.

"Oh?" Henry turned from the stove to look at his mother. "Five dollars from Grandma?" He smiled.

Regina laughed, Henry grown into a very witty young man. "No name, hence the mystery."

Henry cocked a brow, much like his mother before him. "Can I see?"

Regina nodded and retrieved the card from her bag. Regina looked at it once more before handing it to Henry, perhaps she had missed a name before- She hadn't.

"It's sweet." Henry nodded as he reread it.

"Sweet?" Regina asked, that's not what she would have called it.

"The card itself is sweet. The poem on the other day, well, it's beautiful." Henry handed the card back to his mother. "Wonder who it's from."

Regina nodded. "As do I."

"Maybe the sender will come forward? I mean maybe they dropped it on your desk over lunch and forgot to leave a name? Or maybe the nameless thing was intentional?" Henry was a curious boy.

"I didn't leave my office all day." Regina thought out loud. "Never mind the card. Let's eat."

Though Henry and Regina's conversation didn't come back to the card even once that evening it was still on Regina's mind when she was climbing into bed. Regina turned the card over in her hands and wondered how such a small gesture had completely taken over her mind. Regina inspected the hand writing with more intensity- in some ways it seemed familiar but Regina couldn't quiet place it.

Regina reread each word with care. It seemed so personal, it seemed like the author really understood Regina. But perhaps it was all coincidence, perhaps the poem was just a generic hallmark attempt at a wholesome birthday message that some random had stolen from the internet.

Regina sighed and pulled the covers a little higher. How dare this simple gesture completely turn her mind inside out. Regina was so used to her mother's wraith on her birthday, or King Leopold forgetting, and as the Evil Queen of course no one wanted to celebrate with her- for her. Regina had spent most of her birthdays alone, so this one small card, well it meant much more than Regina wanted it to.

Regina had had an extremely restless night so when she trudged into her office at 8:47am- coffee in hand- there was no smile on her face. Regina placed her briefcase and files on her desk before setting in an unusually heavy manner.

Regina removed the card- the course of her unrest- from her bag and placed it back onto her desk. Perhaps it was best to leave it where she found it, even if where she found it was on her desk.

With a sip of coffee Regina pushed the card from her mind and started to prepare herself for the coming day. A magic free town made Regina's work load larger than it used to be. Regina had once more become reliant on magic helping her in her everyday life, including Mayoral duties, so the past few months had been somewhat of a work frenzy.

Regina had waded through meetings and at least two stacks of paper work by lunch time so she felt as though a reward was in order. Instead of working while eating lunch- like most days- Regina decided to move from her desk over to the comfortable couch in her large office.

Just as Regina was getting into her salad there was a knock at the office door.

"Yes?" Regina knew that legally she couldn't keep her receptionist on door duty 24/7 but it sure would be nice.

"Hey,"

"Sheriff?" The annoyance dropped from Regina's features and a small smile covered her lips as she greeted the one and only Emma Swan. "What brings you my way?"

Emma stepped into the room with her usual bravado and confidence. "Well I was hoping for a working lunch, but it appears you aren't working?" Emma's voice had a little pitch to it- surprise- but never the less it was playful.

"I've earned this," Regina warned with playful glare.

"Oh, I'm sure. Madame Mayor, eater of mouldy cheese, drinker of fine wines, worthy of lunch breaks." Emma nodded, confirming her statement once more.

Regina chuckled at that. "Yes, please, put that on my tomb stone." Regina had drama hand gestures to boot.

"Oh, of course. Anything your Majesty wants, your Majesty gets." Emma grinned as she sat down next to Regina.

Regina nodded. "Exactly." Regina paused in thought for a moment. "So that working lunch, did you need me for anything in particular?"

"Yes, that is the point of a working lunch, Regina." Emma smiled as she pulled a file from her bag.

"Sorry, I thought that maybe you were just too scared to ask me to a normal lunch." Regina smirked.

"Oh, that was one time!" Emma winced, oh what a fool she had been to think that Regina would let that go gracefully.

When Killian Jones had died about 18 months ago Emma had had a brilliant support network of friends and family. Emma had been given room to grieve the loss of her boyfriend, and she had been comforted when all she could do was cry, and with the help of her loved ones Emma had eventually moved on, not in the ways of another relationship, but in the sense that she could acknowledge her pain and still move forward with her life. Unfortunately, Regina did not have such a loving network. Robin's death had seeded a fresh feeling of loneliness within Regina and that's when Emma had seriously stepped in. Emma had promised to stand by Regina's side for everything, small or large, Emma would be there. Emma had neatly inserted herself into Regina's everyday life and even though both of them were reluctant to admit it, they had grown into real friends- with a deep connection.

It was only a few months after Robin's death when this embarrassing incident occurred. Emma and Regina had been growing closer- I suppose they had been for years, but this small pocket of time had been rather intents- but Emma had still been rather nervous around Regina, so a working lunch always seemed less demanding then a standard lunch and that was something Emma liked.

"Once?" Regina's laugh was loud, it completely filled the room. "Miss Swan, weren't you taught lying is a sin." Regina finally replied after getting her laughing and breathing under control.

Emma was going red. "Technically, all those working lunches weren't planned. I just walked right into your office. So, yes once, I dumbly, but only once! asked you to a working lunch because I was scared that you were going to say no to a normal one." Emma huffed.

"You asked me to a working lunch on a Saturday, Emma. Dumbly doesn't cover it." Regina teased.

"Well it's the thought that counts." Emma grumbled.

Regina laughed with a nod. "indeed, it is."

"I came over because I have some budget stuff I forgot to bring to yesterday's meeting." Emma played with the file in her hand. "It's kinda time sensitive."

"Time sensitive?" Regina cocked a brow- now she was interested.

"Yes," Emma nodded. "Look at it, hopefully approve it, and find out."

"Hmm," Regina held out her hand and waited for Emma to give her the paper.

"Nuh," Emma stood up. "Eat your lunch, use this very unused couch, I'll leave it on your desk."

Regina's smile towards Emma was beautiful and genuine. "Thank you. I'll get it back to you as soon as I can."

"I know," Emma nodded as she walked over to Regina's desk to find a new home for her budget request. After pushing a few things to the side to make her own file the centre of attention Emma saw a familiar envelope. "Oh, you got my card?"

"Your card?" Regina questioned from the couch.

"The one on your desk. I had the intention of giving it to you after our meeting yesterday but I thought I had misplaced it. Guess the universe is looking after me after all."

Regina had managed to get off the couch and walk to her desk in the time that it took Emma to speak. "You wrote this?" She asked as she picked it up, her heart racing and finger tips slightly shaking.

"Well, the poem, yes." Emma nodded awkwardly, she was pinned under Regina's gaze. She couldn't quite pin what the emotion in Regina's eyes was but it she sure as hell knew that it was new. Wide brown eyes, batting lashes, parted lips and a wonderfully soft smile creeping over Regina's lips. That was definitely a look Emma wanted to see more of.

Regina shook the confusion from her features- and any other look. "It's so earthy. I didn't peg you as the type. Leather and diesel is more your style." In all the time Regina had spent thinking about that damned card it hadn't even crossed her mind once that it could have been from Emma, and that left an odd feeling in the back of her mind, and in the pit of her stomach.

"Pagan roots," Emma offered with a shrug.

"Pagan roots?" Regina questioned, a laugh on the tip of her tongue. It wasn't that Regina found anything wrong with pagan roots- quite the opposite actually- it was just so unexpected.

"One of my foster parents was a practising Celtic Pagan. A lot of that stuff suck with me." Emma explained easily.

"Oh," Regina was at a loss for words. She had never in her wildest dreams pegged Emma Swan as someone to believe in that kind of thing, it was so unamerican. It was such a soft natured belief system, one that Regina herself had been strongly invested in, in her youth.

"Look, Regina you know me now, and you know the woman I have become, and I truly consider us close, but you don't know my past." Emma's words had a sudden defensive tone to them. One in which Regina hadn't heard in a very long time.

"Emma," Regina smiled softly. "I'm not judging you. I think it's beautiful, the poem and that you believe in a more paganistic way of life." Regina said softly, trying to reassure her friend that she was in a safe place. Regina hated the thought that Emma felt uncomfortable or unsafe in Regina's presence at this stage of their friendship.

"Oh," Emma stuck her hands in her pockets. "First time I've had that reaction. Sorry for snapping."

"I didn't know you wrote poetry." Regina stated, trying to change the subject, as she assumed Emma had received a lot of slack from her many Christian foster parents. Yes, Regina had done her research.

"There is a lot you don't know, Regina." Emma offered with a smirk.

"Well you've got my attention. Tell me over a family dinner tonight with Henry." Regina smiled, happy that this situation wasn't blown out of proportion. Regina enjoyed the fact that she could actually communicate with Emma, a woman that she once fought ruthlessly with.

"See you at 7." Emma nodded, knowing that the Mills had dinner at 7 every night without fail.