7 Days Before the Wedding~

Coming back home to Storybrooke did something to me. When I turned around the corner and saw the familiar clock tower standing guard over the town, everything changed. Tears brimmed my eyes a little. I had been so scared I would never see this again.

It had been three months since I had been out of Storybrooke. I'd been on a top-secret solo mission to defeat an enemy that had all our happy endings on the brink of destruction. And of course by top-secret I mean that the entire town knew about it.

It had taken three months, but the villain was finally destroyed, and I was back home.

Home.

I never thought I would ever be able to call anything that.

But that's precisely what Storybrooke is. The buildings; they are home. The streets; they are home. The sights, the sounds, the smells; they are home. The people; they are home.

And I am so glad to be back.

I pull up to Granny's diner, pulling the key out of the ignition and letting out a heavy, content, bittersweet sigh. There's lights on in the diner, and I can hear the voices of everyone in town inside.

My boots make a lovely, familiar thud thud thud on the pavement that leads up to the door, and as the sound of my steps escalate, so does the sound of my beating heart.

Everything is aching. I ache to see the people I missed for so long. Mary Margaret. David. Henry. Regina. The last name pops into my head before I can stop it. Before I can even think about it. Thinking about Regina is so natural, so instinctive. I have tried for so long to be her enemy, to hate her, but I can't. I know in my heart that she isn't my enemy and that I sure as hell don't hate her.

I yank open the door, and the sound of the shouts of everyone welcoming me home is deafening. They say three simple words—"Welcome home, Emma!"—but they mean so much more. I can hear in that moment that they mean "we missed you!" and "we love you!" and "we're so grateful that you're alive".

It's overwhelming.

But it all fades away as soon as I see her.

My heart jumps into my throat, lodging there in an awkward lump and making it difficult to breath.

Ebony hair.

Deep, soulful eyes.

Blood-red lips.

Has she always been so damn beautiful? She seemed to be all I could think about those three months I was away, and yet my memories never did her justice. They never gave her body enough curve. Never gave her eyes enough emotion. Never gave her face enough beauty.

And they never, ever made me feel the way I'm feeling right now.

Our eyes meet and the world melts away. All I want to do is run to her. I want to tell her that I missed her, and that I was scared I'd never see her again, and that there are so many things I want to say.

But I'm stopped by dozens of pairs of arms grabbing me and surrounding me and welcoming me home.

My parents reach me first of course, crying and hugging me and telling me how grateful they are that I'm back. And then it's me crying and squeezing Henry. And then it's everyone else in the diner. And then it's an awkward silence as I meet Regina's gaze again.

Her eyes are deep when she says, "Welcome back Swan." I can hear the unsaid things behind her words.

I smile softly. "Thanks Regina." I hope she can hear the unsaid things behind mine.

There's food and drinks and cake and people and talking and catching up, and finally Mary Margaret makes her way back over to me.

"Come here, there's something I need to tell you!"

She leads me over the corner where Regina is standing awkwardly by herself. An anger flares up inside of me. Will no one talk to her, even after all this time? Have they really not seen the change that's taken place in her?

"Regina!" Mary Margaret calls, leading me over to her. "Regina, tell Emma your exciting news!"

The mayor stiffens slightly, avoiding my gaze and looking instead at the ground. She's fidgeting with a ring on her left finger. It takes me a long moment to realize what it is. And then finally, with horror, I do.

Mary Margaret can't contain herself any longer. "She's engaged!" she gushes. "Isn't it wonderful? Regina is getting married!"

Something aching and writhing and loathing begins to wriggle in my stomach and I can't get it to go away. It's horror and shock and surprise, but it's also something else. It's jealousy. So much is going on in my head that complete thoughts simply aren't processing.

I can tell by the look on my mother's face that I'm supposed to say something.

I stumble over my words. Choke on them. "Regina—that's, that's great!" I try with great effort to make the words sound genuine, but they come out flat. She still won't meet my eyes.

"When did this happen?" I ask. The words sound rushed, panicked.

"Two months ago," says Mary Margaret proudly.

"And I assume it's with Robin?" My mother nods proudly to answer my question. I look to Regina, but she's still motionless. Why is she acting so strange? Isn't she supposed to be happy? It's her engagement, after all.

"Guess what the best part is, Emma?" My mother gushes. "The wedding is only a week away!"

The horror is rising in my throat, and I can feel tears forming. It's just exhaustion, I tell myself. But I know that it's so much more than that. I'm about to scream or cry or do anything to make this awful feeling go away, so I mutter something—probably a congratulation or perhaps an excuse of why I'm leaving—and then hurry to get up and leave.

I rush outside, the bitter Maine air both taunting me and comforting me. I let myself collapse against the hard metal frame of my bug, not trusting my legs to support me.

I close my eyes, letting the tears form before they rain down my cheeks and pool onto my shirt. I let out a sob before I finally face the thought that has been bothering me for so long.

Of course I'm in love with Regina.

When I saw that ring on her finger, it was like a revelation. My life flashed before my eyes, and all the seconds I've ever spent with her, all the moments I tried to hate her and wasn't able to, all the times I realized that she was a good remarkable person under the surface, flashed through my head. It was like I was living them again, only this time I realized what they all meant. Everything—every thought, every breath, every heart beat I had had since I met Regina all led up to the inevitable fact that I had been falling in love with her.

But I was a coward. I had been too scared. Too scared to tell her. Too scared to lose her. Too scared to admit it to myself.

And now—now that I had finally admitted it—now it was too late.

Regina was gone from me. Gone forever. Still in sight, but too far to reach.

The only woman I had ever truly fallen in love with was falling out of my hands like sand. And like sand, I knew there was no way I was ever going to stop her from leaving me forever.