A/N - If you're like me, takes at least a couple of chapters to get into stories.

So ... I'm hesitantly posting the next chapter to see what you guys think. A little apprehensive and nervous about it to be honest:-)

Chapter 2

Emma woke up with a migraine. She was tired and still pissed at Regina. So OK, it was probably not a good idea to go when she did, but all she wanted to do was say sorry about the whole Archie thing and thank her for saving her life. It was like any time they made some progress in their twisted relationship, something would come up and then they'd be back at square one. Emma had never met anyone like Regina. She intrigued her and infuriated her in equal proportions. She felt this constant need to confront Regina and be in her space. It baffled her to no end.

She needed caffeine to wake her up. She slowly got out of bed, not wanting to wake up Henry. She wasn't used to having someone in her bed all night. It made her uncomfortable, but at the same time warm on the inside. She gently placed a kiss to the boy's forehead and went about getting dressed.

She walked in to Granny's and was greeted by Granny herself. "Morning Sheriff, what can I get for you? The usual?"

"Thanks, that would be awesome" Emma replied walking over to one of the spare booths. She decided to make a quick stop at the hospital after breakfast to make sure the crash victim was gone. It was scary to think that outsiders could now enter Storybrook.

The doorbell rang and Emma looked up. Her heart sank. In walked in someone not from Storybrook. A woman to be exact - dark complexion, black wavy hair, muscular body – the opposite to Emma. The woman looked around and casually walked up to the bar stools eyeing Emma, sitting and waiting patiently to be served. The diner was packed; it was the breakfast rush hour after all. Everyone was stunned into silence. It wasn't a small town, but everyone pretty much knew everyone else.

Granny pulled herself together and approached the stranger.

"Morning, what can I get for you?"

"A soy latte thanks".

"Coming right up" Granny responded, trying to act natural. She figured this would be a good opportunity to ask the stranger some questions.

"I haven't seen you around before. You new in town?"

"You could say that, yes. In town for some business" was all the stranger offered.

Granny placed the latte in front of the woman and eyed the Sherriff.

Emma got the hint, casually left the booth and approached the woman. When the woman looked up, the first thing she noticed were her eyes – one gray and one green.

"Morning, welcome to Storybrook. I'm Emma Swan, the Sheriff of this town."

"Morning."

Emma hoped her introduction would prompt the other woman for a name, but alas, none came. She couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was something strange about this woman. Not physically. Truth be told, Emma was a bit envious of the woman. But Emma was good at reading people. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul but this woman's eyes were hard to read. There was just something off and she needed to find out what it was.

"You just passing through or staying for a while?" Emma asked.

"I'll be here for as long as I need to be. Know any place I can stay Sherriff?"

Granny was watching the exchange with great interest and decided to speak up.

"I have some rooms available to rent if you're interested. I'll get my granddaughter Ruby to prepare one for you."

"Thank you, that's very kind." The woman placed some money on the counter, turned her attention to the Sherriff standing. "It was a pleasure meeting you Emma Swan, I'm sure I'll see you around."

With that she turned and walked away from the Sherriff and out the diner.

"What the fuck was all that about" Emma exclaimed to Granny.

"I have no idea, but thought it would be better to keep her in my sights. There was something off but familiar about that woman. I just can't put my finger on it."

"Tell me about it" Emma mumbled and she made her way out of the diner to the hospital.

"There you are. We were wondering where you went. You missed taking Henry to the bus stop."

"Sorry James, needed a caffeine hit then decided I should pop by here to check on things. Has he left yet, the crash guy?"

"Yeah, he was discharged this morning. Someone came by to pick him up. Listen Emma, I don't know how I feel about outsiders coming to Storybrook. There's so much at stake now. People are adjusting to being here as their former selves. We can't have people wondering in here finding out that fairy tale characters are real and magic exists."

"Actually, there was a woman at the diner, someone definitely not from Storybrook. She's staying at Granny's I think. I'm going to try and find out something about this woman. I'll see you back at the station."

"Ok, but be careful".

"How was Henry this morning?" Emma turned around to face her father.

"He was quiet, I think he misses Regina a lot. Snow mentioned you went to see her, how did that go?"

"How do you think? That woman is insufferable! Evil Queen aside, she's just so hard to read. I don't know whether I'm coming or going with her!"

James just chuckled and eyed Emma. He had waited his whole life to find his true love. He had told his mother a long time ago that he didn't want to settle and get married just for the hell of it. It wasn't until Snow that he knew what true love was, what it looked like, what it felt like and what it truly meant to be in love. The scary part for him now was that after a lot of consideration, he saw all that in his daughter. He just wasn't sure whether Emma knew what was going on and how he felt about it.

"What's so funny?" Emma enquired.

"Nothing, just that things have a way of working out, that's all. You love Henry, Henry loves Regina and Regina loves Henry. You'll work it out eventually."

"Yeah, can't see that happening." Emma gave a sad smile.

"Actually, we never really got the chance to talk much after getting back from the Enchanted Forest. What exactly happened when we were gone? I get the feeling you believe Regina's changed, don't you".

"Listen Emma, I am by no means wearing a t-short saying 'Team Regina', but I saw what she was like when you and Snow were gone, how she was with Henry. I didn't want to admit it, but she does love that kid and would do anything for him. She proved that through her actions. Cora's here with Hook, who knows what they have planned. We need to get through to Regina and see where she's at with all of this. She could make or break our future."

It had been 3 days since Regina had seen her mother and her confrontation with Emma. She had locked herself up in the house pacing, screaming, blowing things up, yelling and finally sobbing. She had awoken with not much more clarity than the night before. There was only one way she was going to get the answers to her questions, and that was by having an actual conversation with her mother. That thought was a frightening one. She didn't know if she could do it. Her whole like she was spoken down to. Never had they had an honest to goodness discussion. This was going to be a challenge.

She showered, dressed and left the mansion with a purpose. For the first time in her life, Regina Mills was going to have a discussion with her mother.

Regina made her way through the B&B, knowing exactly where she was headed. Granny had mentioned the room number when she popped in to get a coffee. Granny didn't seem surprised to see Regina, in fact, she was being very courteous. Which was strange and unexpected.

Regina knocked on the door. The door opened and she just stood there staring. There was her mother, in a purple jogging outfit and matching sneakers.

"What an unexpected surprise Regina, please do come in."

"Mother, what are you wearing?" Regina enquired stepping into the room.

"Regina, what an interesting place this is. I can see why you picked Storybrook to curse everyone to. Running water, electricity, coffee, TV, candy, coffee, and did I mention coffee?" Cora was speaking at super human speed.

"I was watching the TV, that's what it's called you know. There was this show on, rather interesting, called, hang on … ah yes! 'Hot in Cleveland', they had some marathon as they called it, it was endless. Anyways, the elder of the women, Elka, was wearing this outfit in different colors throughout the show, so I decided to get a few of my own."

"You went out in town and bought a bedazzled jogging outfit?"

"No silly, I just poofed them here" Cora replied as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Regina couldn't handle it anymore. "You can't just go around poofing things into existence mother! This is not a magical place, you need to be careful."

"Regina, don't be such a worry wort. You wanted time to think, what was I supposed to do?"

"Worry wort, really? Who are you and what have you done with my mother?! I came here to have a serious discussion with you. I can't do that when you're like this, wearing that outfit!"

"Like what Regina? You're a part of this world now. I want you in my life, so I need to be a part of this world too. I wasn't planning on going back. I came here with the intention of staying, to be where you are."

"Well, I guess that answered one of my questions."

"And what is wrong with my outfit?" Cora asked with her hands on her hips.

Regina felt like she was in a parallel universe. She should have been furious, outraged and demanding answers from her mother. But before she could stop herself, she started chuckling. Here she was, standing in a room in Storybrook with her mother in a bedazzled outfit.

Cora, seeing her daughter chuckling, began to laugh hysterically. Because she thought the situation was funny, and absurd, and felt right for the first time in her life.

"Look, I know we have a lot to talk about, but could we please get out of this room? I need a proper meal. I've been snacking on Cheerios and candy from this contraption of a fridge. I've done as you asked, stayed in doors and away from you. Please, just give me a chance to explain."

Emma and Henry walked into the diner, deciding to have breakfast there instead of the house before Henry had to go to school and Emma to work.

They sat in silence eyeing each other as they waited for their order to arrive.

"Emma, I want you to take me to her. I know you went and saw her, I heard Snow and gramps talking about it yesterday."

"Henry, I don't think that's such a good idea right now. She's not in a good place at the moment, she's still upset and very angry."

"Of course she's angry, the one person who should have believed in her didn't! I should never have abandoned her like that. This is all my fault!"

Emma got up from where she was and sat near Henry, placing an arm over his shoulder. "Hey, you listen to me. This is not your fault, you understand me? If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should have trusted my instincts, and instead decided to believe what I saw rather than what I felt. This is my fault, and I'm going to make sure your mum knows we believe her and in her."

"Do you really believe that Emma?" Henry questioned with his puppy dog eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know what I believe anymore kid. Fairytales, magic, curses. But what I know is that in the last six months, two of the constants in my life have been you and Regina."

Henry smiled warily at his birth mother. He definitely loved her. She was his mother, the savior and white knight. But deep down he also loved Regina, his other mother. He knew she loved him, she just had an odd way of showing it. Even though Emma had saved them all by breaking the curse, he knew their story was not over and what had to happen next. Before the curse had been broken, August had given Henry a special book, one that he had not shown to anyone. One that provided the final chapters of his family's story.

"Good morning Sherriff Swan, what a pleasant surprise bumping into you again."

Emma looked up, Henry eyeing the stranger and then Emma.

"Well, I didn't expect you to still be in town."

"Miss Swan I didn't realise you were looking out for me. Tell me, do you always take such an interest in everyone's whereabouts?"

"It's Sherriff Swan, and I take an interest when I feel the need to" Emma responded curtly going head to head with the stranger.

Snow and James entered the diner hand in hand. "Emma, Henry, there you are! I thought we were going to have breakfast together this morning".

They approached Emma and Henry noticing Emma's defensive posture and the stranger standing in front of her.

James figured this was the woman his daughter had mentioned at the hospital. Ever the gentleman, he extended his hand and introduced himself and his wife.

Emma waited patiently for the woman to finally introduce herself. The doorbell rang once again and to the surprise of everyone there, in walked Regina with Cora.

"Mum!" Henry exclaimed running towards Regina. Regina didn't get a chance to look around, she was too stunned to see her son running towards her, arms outstretched with smile from ear to ear.

"Cora?" James and Snow were rooted to the floor, unsure as to what to do.

Emma looked up and was shocked. There stood Regina with Cora right by her side.

The stranger, who had her back to the door decided to turn around. Regina was still embracing her son, never wanting to let him go. She kissed the top of his head and looked up to see Emma with a hesitant smile on her face. She quickly noticed someone standing next to Emma.

She went white as a ghost. Her heart started racing, she couldn't believe what she saw in front of her. Emma was talking with someone, someone who should not be in Storybrook.

The stranger looked directly at Regina and the look of surprise on her face was priceless.