"Got anything to drink?" she asks.
At Emma's words a flicker of something passes over the mayor's eyes. Irritation, perhaps? But without a word she turns and disappears into the kitchen. Emma follows, her boot heels clicking on the cold floor and casting echoes in the large foyer.
In the kitchen Regina draws a small key out of a drawer. She kicks a footstool up to the cabinets, steps on, and then stretches up to unlock a high cupboard.
Emma expects apple cider, but Regina draws down a bottle of red wine. She absently brushes some dust off the label before placing the bottle on the counter. She locks the cupboard again and tucks the key back into the drawer.
"Why wasn't that locked with magic?" Emma is testing the evil queen, trying to figure out the rules in this strangely altered world.
This time the flicker that passes over the Regina's face is definitely one of annoyance, and she still won't meet Emma's eyes.
"There was no magic in this world, remember?" The queen's voice is cold, dry.
"There was a little bit," Emma insists. Then, "Why don't you lock it with magic now?"
"Why would I bother?" the queen scoffs. "A lock and key are good in any realm for things that aren't particularly precious."
Her eyes dart to Emma's briefly, black and hard, before refocusing on the wine in her hands. She draws a corkscrew out of another drawer and peels the wrapping off the neck of the bottle.
She speaks again, her voice softer this time. "I just don't want Henry in the wine."
"Oh." Emma hadn't thought of that.
Regina uncorks the bottle and fills two glasses. She takes one and then moves away to the far side of the kitchen, seemingly putting as much space between herself and 'the savior' as possible.
"Well, go on." The mayor's gesture is curt. Emma realizes that Regina's hands are shaking.
Emma picks up the second glass and brings it to her mouth, but hesitates.
"It's not poisoned, dear." Regina is darkly amused and a small spark creeps into her eyes.
"I didn't think it was," Emma lies and takes a sip.
Regina raises her glass in a toast that Emma doesn't understand, then takes a taste from her own glass.
The wine is dark and smooth, rich in Emma's mouth with a velvety aftertaste. She closes her eyes, focusing on the wine and tuning out everything else – the fact that she's in the mayor's kitchen, that the mayor is really the evil queen from the fairy tales, and the fact that she really was the 'savior' and just hours before had broken the curse described in Henry's book.
Her moment of quiet is broken when Henry comes crashing into the kitchen.
"I'm hungry," he announces before throwing open the door of the refrigerator and pushing the upper half of his body inside.
He's wearing white socks and sneakers, a pair of ratty gym shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. He's wet his hair in the front and brushed it until it's lying flat, but the hair on the back of his head is still standing up in a cowlick from his extended time in the hospital bed.
Emma has never seen him so rumpled, and she realizes that Regina is thinking the same thing. The mayor's eyes are roaming up and down Henry's body and a small frown purses her lips. But she stays quiet, perhaps sensing that her jurisdiction over this child is now tenuous at best.
Henry grabs a jug of milk from the fridge and bangs it down on the counter. There's as clatter as he climbs onto the cupboard to retrieve a bowl and a box of cereal, and then a jangle as he drops a spoon down beside his bowl.
The two women watch silently as he pours his cereal, losing a few flakes on the counter. The splash of milk lands mostly in the bowl. He picks up the bowl and stuffs a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Mumbling through a mouthful of food, Henry asks, "So what's for dinner?"
xxx
Emma's life has become completely surreal.
They're sitting at Regina's large dining room table eating rubbery eggs and burnt toast. Emma's not much of a cook but no one seems to mind. Regina is mostly pushing the food around her plate but Henry is eating with gusto, debating out loud with himself what Storybrooke will be like now that the curse has been broken.
"Will Archie turn back into a cricket? Or will he stay a man? How do fairy tale creatures live in this world anyways?"
Emma interrupts after catching a snippet of his one-sided conversation. "I'm sorry, cricket?"
She has no idea why she's still here. Why Regina hasn't kicked her out with some snarky remark. Emma figures it must be shock, and she's perched on the edge of her chair waiting for the order to leave. Or for Regina to turn her into a frog. Or something.
"Yes Emma, cricket. Jiminy Cricket, remember?" Henry asks, a little exasperated.
"Oh right." Emma thinks she must be in shock too, because this whole situation somehow seems normal.
Henry turns to face Emma fully. "What about your parents?" he asks. "Are you going to see them soon?"
Emma has no answer for that. It had occurred to her in an abstract sort of way, somewhere between the hospital and the mayor's house, that if James and Snow White are her parents, then David and Mary Margaret are her parents too. Which is just a little too weird to think about at the moment.
Eventually Henry's energy wanes and Emma points him upstairs towards bed. He goes willingly, a sign of how tired he must be. She gathers the remnants of dinner and carries them into the kitchen.
Regina is standing at the sink, her back to Emma, gazing out the window. Emma takes a few tentative steps toward her. Over Regina's shoulder she can see the apple tree in the back yard. Strangely the tree is bare of leaves. Rotting apples litter the ground. It looks like the tree is dead.
"Hey, what happened to your tree?" she asks.
Regina's shoulders stiffen. When she turns, Emma finally sees the mayor in Regina's flashing eyes and curled lip.
"You happened," Regina spits out. "You broke my curse, remember? You killed my tree."
"Sorry," Emma says shrugging. She's not really sorry at all. "I didn't mean to break any curse. It kind of just happened."
"It just happened," Regina repeats mockingly. She takes a stiff step away from the window, and then another, moving deliberately into Emma's space.
"It just happened. You just happened to waltz into town, steal my son, and break my curse. And you just happened to kill my apple tree."
Emma shrugs again. "Like I said, it kind of just happened."
Regina's hand comes up so quickly that Emma doesn't have time to duck. The slap hits her on the cheekbone, snapping her head to the side.
"Don't you get it?" Regina is shaking now, angry. Borderline hysterical. "Everything I worked so hard for, you took it away. Just like your mother."
Emma's head is bent, hand to her face. She registers the words of the evil queen but it takes her a second to comprehend them.
"Wait, what?" she asks, straightening. "What did my... What did Snow White do to you?"
"She betrayed me." Regina turns away and walks back to the sink.
Emma is angry. "So you took it out on everyone else. Is that the story?" she demands. The flood of emotions that was absent earlier now rushes into her system. She feels her hands begin to shake.
"You destroyed everyone else's lives. You took away all their happy endings, just because you didn't have your own. Isn't that it? That's what the book says." Emma's voice is getting louder, the words and emotions tumbling out faster than she can process.
"Because of you, I didn't get to grow up with my parents. I bounced from foster home to foster home. All because of you. And Henry. My God, Henry! What did he do to deserve being caught up in all this?"
Emma has moved forward during her rant and she suddenly realizes that she's only inches away from the bent back of the mayor who is partially hunched over, leaning into the sink.
When Regina straightens up and turns around, Emma is so close that she can feel Regina's breath on her face. She realizes suddenly that with Regina standing barefoot he's actually taller than the mayor, and she looks down into Regina's dark eyes.
Those dark eyes are pooling with tears, Emma notices.
All of the hate drains out of her when she sees the depth of pain in those eyes, leaving her feeling empty again.
When the mayor finally speaks it is in a broken whisper. "Nothing," she rasps. "Henry did nothing to deserve being caught up in this."
She drops her eyes and slides past Emma, slipping quietly out of the room.