Both Regina and Emma woke up with radiant smiles on their faces even though they weren't able to see it from one another. Regina went downstairs at 6 o'clock sharp to make Henry breakfast and lunch. She decided to spoil him a little bit and made pancakes for breakfast with hot cocoa obviously topped with a dash of cinnamon and for lunch she made him a turkey sandwich and put a note in the new lunchbox she had bought on impulse at the supermarket the last time she was there. She just hoped he liked Superman as much as she thought he did. Before she knew it Henry made his way downstairs.

'Did I miss the end of the movie?'

'You did… but you can watch the ending some other time right? I made you pancakes for breakfast with some cocoa topped with cinnamon just how you like it.'

Henry looked a little surprised at the fact that his mom was indulging him so much during a weekday. He also felt more like having eggs, but he didn't want to ruin his mom overly good mood and the cocoa was very much appreciated so he just smiled at her and ate his breakfast as fast as he could without looking like a savage.

'You didn't have your normal lunchbox with you so I put your lunch in the new one that I got you and got your spare bag out of the closet. I hope that's okay?'

'Superman is pretty cool! Good choice mom. Thanks.'

Regina didn't like being so vulnerable, but if she was going to win back his heart she needed to be a little bit humble. All of the sudden Regina heard her phone buzzing and she quickly looked at the message and saw that it was in fact Emma.

Henry will be done at school around 4. Is 5 o'clock a good time to have him give you his essay? Snow does make dinner early so unfortunately we can't stay long, but that just means you can read the whole thing in peace. X Emma

I can make five work. Looking forward to reading it.

Cool. Let me know what you think of it as well. I really hope you like it.

I can call you afterwards. Is that alright?

The thought of Regina calling her for something as casual as this made Emma a little giddy so she quickly replied as to not lose the invitation. Not that it was really that, but she liked to call it that.

Sure. I'll keep my phone close by. :)

Somehow it gave Emma hope that Regina wanted to call her since this is as much as Regina had opened up in a very long time. Trying to get Henry and Regina to reconnect really felt right to her at this moment in time and she hoped that things would really turn out for the better this time.

'Mom, we need to go otherwise I'll be late and Grandma won't like that.'

Regina refrained herself from making a mean comment at Snows expense knowing it would get her nowhere.

'Well, let's go then. Here are my keys. You can get into my Mercedes I'll be right out, but no honking the horn okay?'

Around 3:30 in the afternoon at the Sheriff station. Emma was on her tenth report about some weird mystical creature stealing things.

'How many reports about invisible yet not invisible weird little critters does one have to go through on a daily basis to get a raise here? UGH.'

Emma said this to no one in particular while putting her head on the table. Luckily she could get out of here in like fifteen minutes to pick up Henry and head on over to Regina's Mansion. It had been a long and boring day and even the bear claw she got herself with her coffee didn't make it any less mind numbing. Normally she could deal better with paperwork days, but she kept getting distracted by her mind wandering to the imagining of certain luscious curves and perfectly painted plump lips. This made Emma shake her head with vigor more than once. She had to keep her mind out of the gutter since a friendship with Regina would be better for Henry and she didn't want to risk anything. Besides Regina probably didn't care for her in that way anyways since the love that made her turn dark was the love she felt for Daniel who was a man. Emma checked her watch and saw that it was 3:45 so she quickly got up and headed for Henrys school. Henry ran over to Emma and hugged her when he saw her.

'Hey Kid. Do you have your essay for your mom?'

'I do…'

'C'mon kid I'm sure she'll love it as much as everyone else. Hell, even Snow was pretty damn impressed that's why you got the A+.'

'I know, but…'

'Don't worry about it. Now come on I promised your mom we'd be at her place round 5 and it's already 4:30. She is truly excited about reading it. Cool lunchbox you're sporting by the way. Did your mom get you a new one?'

'Well yeah, my TRON one is at grandpa and grandma's place so she got me this new one if I were to ever need it which I did since we didn't bring my stuff yesterday. It's pretty cool. I'm surprised she remembered that I like Superman. She normally doesn't really get into that stuff you know?'

They quickly headed for Regina's mansion in Emma's trusted yellow bug and Regina immediately opened the door when they rang the doorbell. She just had to read what Henry had written about her. It was more important to her right now than anything else in the world.

'Henry! Hello Emma. Is that the essay? I'm really happy to be able to read it. I'm sure it's a great essay. I mean you've always been good at English. And since you got an A+ it must be quite the literary work.'

'He's quite the little writer alright. Aren't you kid?'

Emma ruffled his hair a little and smiled at Regina.

'You are going to call me when you've read it right? I meant it when I said that I'm curious about what you think of it.'

Henry looked a little wide eyed at this since this was the most friendly his moms had ever been with each other it seemed. Regina noticed it and blushed a little, but kept her composure otherwise.

'I will and I'll let you know what I think of it as well sweetheart.'

Henry nodded a bit shy and nervously.

'Great! Well Henry and I need to get home for dinner so have a nice quiet read Regina.'

Emma and Henry got into Emma's bug and Regina closed the door and went to her study. She started a fire the old fashioned way since she tried to not really use magic anymore. She also poured herself a glass of cider since she was feeling a bit nervous as to what Henry could've written about her. And she put her phone right next to her as a reminder to call Emma afterwards. She quickly started reading.

Essay by: Henry Mills
'This essay will be about Regina Mills my mom and mayor to this town. Mayors are after all leaders and my mom is no exception. […]

'Regina is especially good at dealing with crime since her and my other mom, the Sheriff of this town, Emma Swan are like yin and yang. They might not always see eye to eye, but they try to make sure Storybrooke is one of the safest places one could live. It's good to see that kind of passion in her because passion is what makes leaders thrive. […]'

'[…]Despite all the mistakes she did make I think that my mom, the mayor and leader of this town, Regina Mills is someone many leaders could envy.'

Regina was sobbing at this point and she quickly put away the essay to make sure she didn't get her tears all over it. She was extremely touched by what Henry had written about her and felt that there was definitely a chance for her to completely redeem herself in Henrys eyes. Her heart was swelling with emotion. The yin and yang comment took her by surprise, but she secretly liked it… a lot. She wiped away her tears and blew her nose and then dialed Emma's number.

'Hi, it's Regina.'

'Regina! I'm glad you called. So what did you think of it? I'm dying to find out. Henry is already asleep, but I'll make sure you can tell him your opinion as well.'

'It… it was beautiful. I'm glad you got him to let me read it. That… means a lot to me. I…I…'

Her voice started to waver again and Emma took notice of it.

'Are you…crying Regina? Do you want me to come over?

'Some company wouldn't be awful…'

'I'll be right over okay? You can tell me the rest of what you wanted to say when I get there.'

Emma hung up and put on her red leather jacket, took her car keys and headed on out. Snow had never seen her daughter being like this before so it was a bit strange.

'Do you need to be somewhere Emma?'

'Ehm…yeah I'm going to Regina. We needed to go over some stuff. Meetings and stuff you know? I'll be fine.'

'Oh, okay. Well don't be too late okay?'

'I won't be Mary…I mean Snow. Bye!'

'Bye…'

Snow was worried about her. Emma still didn't feel comfortable calling her mom and that hurt her to say the least. She even almost called her Mary Margaret again. She didn't mind her other name at first, but she was really starting to hate it now. Needless to say she didn't like that Emma and Regina were getting along so well, but Emma had said it was for Henry and he did seem like he needed Regina so she tried to suck it up, but she remained hesitant and frustrated anyways.

Emma arrived at Regina's place in record time and she walked to the door as fast as she could. When she rang the bell the door went open in what could've been no more than 10 seconds.

'Hey, thanks for coming.'

'No problem. Are you okay?'

'Let's… get inside first. It's really cold.'

They got inside and Regina walked back to her study with Emma right behind her. When they entered Regina sat down on the couch with her hands beside her like she had just been running. She didn't notice it herself, but Emma saw that she was shivering so she grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped it around Regina. And held one arm around Regina.

'I knew Henry was good, but I didn't know he was that good. You okay?'

'Not really. It was a lot to take in, but it was also really lovely. Did you notice the yin and yang thing too?'

'Yeah, I did. Actually pretty spot on don't you think?'

'I suppose. I mean you are the savior and I'm the Evil Queen so he's not too far off.'

'You were the Evil Queen. You're not as evil as you used to be. To be honest you might have been cruel at times, but you were never truly evil. Love can make us do crazy things. I went to prison and you cast a curse it could've been a hell of a lot worse though. I mean we did a lot of things wrong, but we both did one thing right.'

'Which is?'

'Henry of course. For being evil you made him into a pretty formidable good guy I have to say.'

'And for being good you taught him quite some naughty things to put it lightly.'

'Haha! Touché.'

Regina felt comfortable talking to Emma like this and almost upon naïve instinct she put her head on Emma's shoulder because she started to feel tired. Emma smiled at this and held Regina closer while rubbing her arm to get her to warm up. Soon Regina's eyes were drooping and she fell asleep against Emma. When Emma noticed this she softly stood up and lay Regina on the couch in what she assumed would be a comfortable position for Regina to sleep in and spread the blanket out over her. Emma couldn't help but marvel at the sight of Regina being like this. She looked angelic and peaceful. Which is something she figured had probably never been said about her before. Regina had a lot of sex appeal, but this side of her was also not lost on Emma. She left a note telling Regina to meet her and Henry at Granny's for lunch the next day. Before she went however she gave Regina a kiss to her temple and cheek. She stirred a little and then a lazy smile appeared on Regina's face which stayed there until she woke up the next day. When Regina woke up she felt oddly refreshed. She vaguely recalled that Emma had kissed her on her temple and cheek and she touched both with some hesitation, but she also noticed herself smiling. Then she noticed the note.
Regina,

I didn't want to wake you so I just put the blanket over you so you wouldn't get cold again.
I'm glad we could talk so openly. I liked it a lot. Maybe we can do it again sometime?
Anyways, will you meet me and Henry at Granny's for lunch at let's say 1:15?
Text me if you want to come. I hope you do because Henry should know how much you loved his essay. He'll be thrilled to know his words moved you.

Xx Emma

Regina immediately went over to her phone to confirm lunch with Emma and Henry. She contemplated what the best way was to accept the invitation and then she quickly send it.

Thanks for listening. Appreciate it.
Will meet you and Henry at Granny's at 1:15.
X Regina

Awesome! See you then! :) Xx Emma

´Strange that she now puts two kisses at the end of her texts… It´s probably nothing though. She´s just being friendly. But why did she kiss you on your cheek and temple? Or was that just my imagination? How late is it anyway? 7:30?! Damn, I've got to go to city hall right this instant!'

Regina mostly tried to not use her magic anymore, but because she was so late and the words of Henry of her being such a great leader were still drumming through her mind she quickly fixed her appearance and magicked herself some coffee. She was just in time for her first meeting at 8 thankfully.

'You just don't like me that's why you're not increasing our funding. Isn't it?! I'll have you know that you can't get away with things like that. Not anymore.'

'For the last time Whale there is simply no way to increase the hospitals funding. We might live in a magical town, but there is no magical fix for the financial crisis. I can't just magic money. We'll be discovered if I do and nobody wants that. Now do we? So you'll just have to make due like everyone else in this town.'

Whale grumbled a little, but eventually sighed and gave in because he knew he wasn't going to get very far with Regina. He might not trust her as a person, but there was one thing he could rely on when it came to her. She wouldn't budge if she didn't see the need for doing so.

When Whale and the others from the hospital board finally left Regina went to sit down in the chair behind her desk and sighed heavily. She was pretty damn tired since she hadn't had breakfast and It was already 11. All of the sudden there was a knock on the door which surprised her since her next meeting wouldn't be until 2:30 this afternoon.

'Come in.'

'Hi Regina, I know Granny's normally doesn't deliver, but Emma asked me if I could bring this to you since she figured you might not have eaten yet since she saw you rushing into your office this morning while on patrol.'

'Oh. Well. Thank you Miss Lucas for the service. How much do I owe you?'

'You owe me nothing. Emma paid for it and tipped me as well so we're good. Have a nice day.'

Ruby quickly exited her office and Regina went to sit down with the paper bag and peered into it to see what Emma's idea of a good breakfast was. She expected something like fries and a burger, but that's not what she found.

'Eggs, toast, orange juice, a fruit salad and chocolate milk with cinnamon? Well that is somewhat unexpected I have to say. Another note? Let's see what it says.'

Regina,

I hope you like your breakfast this way.
I know you're all about eating healthy so I hope this qualifies.
The cocoa is just a little extra that I think you should give a try.
See you at lunch.

Xx Emma

'I might as well indulge in the cocoa since Henry likes it too. I should text Emma to thank her I guess. Again with the kisses though. Weird. Well, whatever it probably means nothing.'

Regina grabbed her phone and took a sip of the cocoa before she started typing her message to Emma. As soon as she did she stared at the beverage. She somehow couldn't believe what she was tasting. It might not have been magic, but it just as well could've been because Regina marveled at it and took another sip before she actually started texting.

Thanks for having Ms. Lucas bring me breakfast.
I was kind of starving. I really like the cocoa.

X Regina

I knew you would like the stuff.
It's simply an irresistible taste. ;)

Xx Emma

Well then I guess you'll just have to keep buying it for me then. Don't you?

X Regina

Maybe I will bring it myself next time then. :)

Xx Emma

That settles it then. :)

X Regina

Both Emma and Regina were blushing at the prospect. The idea of spending more time together made both their hearts swell. Regina even felt like her heart was more alive than it had been for what seemed like an eternity. Lunch thankfully came around soon and Emma was almost skipping to Granny's with Henry in tow.

'Why are you so excited to spend time with my mom?'

'I'm just having a good day Henry. Besides you're mom isn't too bad. Don't you like it that we get along better?'
'I do. It's just you guys normally only team up when you have to.'

'Times change kid. Let's go inside. We wouldn't want to be late.'

When they went inside they saw that Regina was already there and had picked out a booth for them to all sit at together. They couldn't help but smile a little at each other. Luckily nobody seemed to have noticed that.

'Hi Regina! Thanks for meeting us here.'

'Thank you for inviting me. Hi sweety. I've read your essay.'

'What did you think of it?'

'It was beautiful honey. It really was. I have to say that I'm truly touched by what you wrote.'

'Really?! Thanks mom!'

Henry immediately went to hug Regina and she melted into the embrace whole heartedly. Emma wished things could be like this all the time. She had never had a loving family life, but she could see it happening with Regina and Henry. This immediately scared a little as well, but she knew that she was thinking about Regina a lot lately and even though she didn't want to risk anything maybe trying to see if Regina could possibly feel the same way wasn't the worst thing she could do. Luckily sniffing out information was something she did by trait and she figured this wouldn't be any different.

'How would you like to come over for dinner on Friday Henry? I've already bought all the ingredients for Lasagna.'

'I'd love to, but it's Paige's birthday party that night and it's a sleepover in their TV room so I can't.'

'Oh okay. That's fine. Some other time then.'

'Well if you don't have anything to do Regina maybe we could have dinner at your place? I'd love to have some of your lasagna. I heard it's pretty damn good.'

'You want to have dinner with me?' She asked raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah why not? We could discuss some work things that have to be done anyway and maybe you can show me some old pictures of Henry.'

'Okay then. Does six o'clock work for you?'

'Seems fine. Now I do have to take Henry back to school so enjoy the rest of your lunch and I'll see you Friday.'

'See you then. Bye Henry.'

'Bye mom! Oh and don't show her any embarrassing pictures please!'

'I have no clue what you're talking about Henry. All your pictures are merely cute and adorable.'

'Sure they are and magic doesn't exist either right?'

'No it doesn't.' Regina deadpanned with a devious smile.