Just a warning, this is a really long chapter. The three chapters were originally written as one-shots that I decided could be connected really well. This one almost entirely in Regina's point of view.
Again, I do not own the rights to any of these characters.
"Okay Mom, I have a plan to get you to stop moping." Henry says as he walks into the kitchen.
"I do not mope!" Regina defends against her teenage son. She was having a nice, quiet moment this morning until he walked in.
"What do you call laying around the house all day, and refusing to see anyone?" He counters with a smirk. He grabs himself a bowl and starts to make cereal.
"I call it relaxing. Seeing people at work fills my capacity for idiots. I have no strong desires to see anyone else in this town besides you at the moment."
Henry chooses to ignore this comment as he sits down at the counter next to her. They sit in a comfortable silence while he scarves down his breakfast. However, he starts the conversation again while washing his dishes.
"Well regardless, I think I have a plan to help you get your Happy Ending."
She sighs and puts her head in her hand. "I think I'm done with all the "Happy Ending" talk, Henry. I'm tired of trying to find some magical way to find my soul mate and fix my future." She can't help but sound a little bitter. After all, Robin was supposed to be her soul mate and somehow that relationship had been a disaster from the start.
"This plan is perfect than. " He says "No magic involved...well not really."
She raises an eyebrow at him and watches closely as he pulls out a notepad and two pens from the drawer.
"I think the only way you're going to find someone to be with is if you are open to the possibility of finding them." He starts to explain. "I saw this TV program last night that said that if you want something, you have to ask the universe for it. It kind of reminded me of the wish Emma made on her birthday. But they suggested that you have a goal board or desire board so you could physically see everything you want all at once." He opens the notebook to a blank page and starts to writes the date. "I think we should write down all the qualities you want in a partner and then maybe burn the paper. Like to send the wish into the universe."
He looks up at her expectantly. She thinks the idea is ludicrous. Clearly people from a non-magical world had created this sort of ritual to make themselves feel like they have control over the powers of fate and destiny. She can't bring herself to crush Henry's idea though. He is only trying to help her…and maybe she has been moping a little since her breakup.
"Fine." She says as she stares at the paper.
"Good!" Henry says excitedly. He wasn't sure his mom would go for the idea and is excited that she is playing along…even if it is only for his sake. "So describe your perfect person."
"I don't know, Henry"
"Come on…Okay" He says, as he gets an idea. "What qualities did Daniel or Robin have that you really liked?"
"Well…I liked that Robin was a good father." She starts of slowly "I would want whoever I was with to be good to you and love you. I would want you to get along."
"Okay, good start." He says as he writes it down. "What else?" he questions
"I loved Daniel's sense of humor. He loved my jokes too. I wasn't quite as…bitter back then, but when I would tease him, he always had a quick remark. " She remembers with a smile.
"Okay sense of humor/witty." Henry says as he writes it down. "How about something you didn't like about either of them. Something you would want to be different in the next relationship?"
Regina sighs again. "I suppose I feel like Robin never really understood me. Sure, he was a thief, but he was never really a villain. I don't need a villain…but I would want someone who could not only accept that I use to be dark but understands how I could have become that way to begin with. Robin always just blindly accepted my past and never asked questions. He didn't know me as the Evil Queen and couldn't possibly understand how much work it's taken to not be her anymore." She says
"We were also raised quite differently and I think that resulted in our parenting techniques being different too. " She adds as an afterthought.
Regina is beginning to feel self-conscious. The atmosphere is starting to feel like a therapy session; with her venting and Henry diligently listening and making notes. Before she could call the whole thing off though Henry starts to speak again.
"What else?"
"I really don't know Henry…"
"How about…" He interrupts her before she can get too far and stop things. "A quality that you really admired in another person. Someone who you haven't dated."
Regina's thoughts immediately go to Emma's sacrifice in becoming the dark one. It had truly been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.
"I would like them to be brave. To fight with me and for me."
"Good…anything else?"
The words Emma said to her before she absorbed the darkness still ring in her ears. It's no surprise that she had them committed to memory. How many times had she had thought about them in the days after the event?
"I would want them to believe in my goodness. To believe that I deserve a happy ending." She says as she finishes. There is a moment where they both reflect before Henry breaks the silence.
"I think we have all the important things." He says "Unless you have anything more to add…"
"Nope. Can I see the list?" She asks.
He rips out the page from the notebook and hands it to her. Regina reads the following:
Relationship:
Single
Good-looking
Henry Approved
Sense of Humor
Understanding
Brave
Belief in goodness
"Henry I never said some of these thing!" She chastises
"Hey, you want them to be single right? We wouldn't want another Robin situation." He says, not apologetic in the least.
"What about good-looking?" She asks, "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"
"Of course not." He quickly reassures her "I just figured that if you were going to make a wish, you might as well wish for everything."
He takes the page back from her and examines it for a moment. Then a huge smirk appears on his face.
"What?" His mother asks suspiciously
"You know who this list describes, don't you?" He says while trying not to laugh
"Who?" Regina questions. Her voice filled with genuine curiosity.
"Emma"
"What?!"
"Think about it! No where on the list does it say your perfect person has to be a man!" Henry says. This time he can't hold back his laughter at his mother's facial expression. It's a mix between shocked and 'you're crazy'.
"No Henry, I won't." She says as she finally gets over the initial shock. "Besides your mother is not single."
"Yeah she is." He quickly corrects her. "She ended things with Hook yesterday."
This comes as news to Regina. She hadn't heard anything about the blonde's relationship since Emma told her about the proposal almost two weeks ago. Why does the news make her so happy though? She supposes it's because she never liked the pirate who had helped Greg and Tamara torture her, around her son.
"Be that as it may, it does not mean Miss Swan is my Happy Ending."
"Why not?" Henry says. He had initially only been teasing his mother, but the more he thinks about it, the more it would make sense for his mothers to be together. "You're friends…she's fought the darkness just like you…she has fought for your happy ending…you guys do some powerful magic when you're together…and you both make lame jokes." He lists
"Henry" She huffs
"Hey, don't worry about it." He says, seeing that she is not being receptive right now. He's hoping that he planted the idea though and that she'll think about it later. "Let's get to the second part of the process." He gets up and takes a candle from the hall closet and sets it on the counter. "Light 'em up" He requests.
Regina rolls her eyes at his antics but lights the candle anyway with a simple flick of her wrist. Henry folds up the paper until it's a tiny square and then hands it back to her.
Without fanfare Regina holds the paper over the flame until she can't hold it any longer. Then she hurriedly drops it into the jar. They both watch as the paper shrivels up disappears, leaving only small pieces of ash behind.
"Are we done here Henry?" His mother asks "You're going to be late for your last day of the school year."
"One last thing for now." He says
"Yes?" she asks cautiously
"Well as we said before, you have to be an active member in your quest to live find Happy Ending. So, for the next few days I'm going to give you a task to help you along."
"And what, may I ask, will these tasks entail?"
"Today's task is to talk to as many strangers as possible. If your perfect match is in Storybrooke," (and not emma, he adds silently) than chances are you haven't met them yet." He explains. Then as an afterthought her adds "And try to be nice to them."
"Fine Henry. I will try my best." She says as she makes her way into the hall. "We really do have to go now though."
"Okay" He says and gives her a quick hug. "We can talk about how it went tonight!" He says as he runs out the door and to the bus stop.
Regina watches him go with a shake of her head. What have I gotten myself into?
"So…how did it go today?" Henry asks once they are sitting down to dinner that night.
Regina simply responds with a disgusted noise in her throat before taking another sip of water.
"That bad huh?" Henry says with a chuckle
Regina thinks about her day. By the time she had arrived at city hall, she had almost forgotten about Henry's task; that is until she was faced with two of the buildings security guards. She passed by them almost everyday on her way into the office but never even acknowledged their existence. She almost didn't say anything to them today either, but she knew Henry would be expecting her to have some news for him once she got home.
"Hello gentlemen" She greeted the two men. They were both very tall with short black hair. One had a mustache that was starting to grey, but other than that, they looked fairly similar. She thinks they may have been guards in her castle in the Enchanted Forrest.
"Madam Mayor" The mustached one says, while the other inclines his head.
"How are you this morning?" She asks trying to make polite small talk.
They both respond with a "fine" and continue to stand silently at the door.
"Well it looks as though you have a job to do, so I'll be going then." She says
They barely acknowledge that she has even spoken again as she moves past them to the door. They certainly are a bag of laughs, aren't they?
Regina recounts this story to Henry and he continues to laugh from before.
"Those are the only strangers you talked to? He asks
"I didn't see many people at work today. I did wave at a woman walking her dog when I was walking out of City Hall, but she looked a little wary by the gesture and urged her dog to continue on."
In truth Regina had been a little hurt by the woman's obvious distrust of her. Hadn't she save the town multiple times? But Regina knew that people wouldn't get over all of her past misdeeds that quickly. And she had to admit, at least the woman only looked mildly skeptical, and not completely terrified.
"Well it's good that you're trying. I think your task for tomorrow is to get out of your office for a little while. I still think you should talk to more people, but clearly your work doesn't give you a great variety."
"All right Henry." She responds less than enthusiastically.
The next day was turning out even worse than the first. She had again attempted to talk to the two security guards, which ended with about as much progress as the first conversation. Then a man came in from the waste removal facility to talk to her about the documents she had sent their office last week. He gave her such an attitude, you would think he didn't know that she was only a Queen, but one with enough magic to kill him with the flick of her wrist. Her promise to try and be nice to these people was being tested by the second. He continued to rant until she thought she might have to call one of the two mute guards to come and escort him out of the building. There is a joke in there somewhere about taking his job and "removing shit" from her office. Her thoughts focused on formulating such a joke as the man refused to let up. Finally the man left once her next appointment came in.
A younger man with glasses and a faded plaid jack strolled into her office. He was actually quite handsome, if Regina was being honest. However, any hope she had that this man might be her perfect match was immediately crushed. The fist words out of his mouth were:
"Those dam kids, keep tee-peeing my house! I want them arrested!"
Hates kids Regina mentally checked off him off her list. There is no way she'd want him around Henry.
"Have you talked to the Sheriff's office about this?" She said, already exasperated by this conversation.
"I have talked to Sheriff Swan on multiple occasions about this problem and she seems to think that there isn't one!" He said as he got more worked up.
"I can't imagine that is true. What exactly did she say?"
"She said that next time it happened that I should call her, because they are constantly running out of toilet paper at her parents house and she would be more than happy to take some off my hands." The man huffed.
Regina had to fight pretty hard to keep her face neutral. Inside she was laughing at the comment. Knowing how this man is, she could only imagine the attitude that Miss Swan had eventually given him.
"I will talk to her about it. Although this town has no intention of arresting children for pulling harmless pranks." She ended the conversation by escorting the man to her office door.
He didn't seem pleased but he left with much less resistance than the first man.
That morning Regina had decided that in order to fulfill her request to leave her office, she would have lunch at Granny's. Even though she is clearly meeting more people at work today; she decides that a break is in order anyway.
When she arrives at Granny's a few minutes later, the place is packed. Who knew a Thursday afternoon would be so busy? Much to her dismay there was almost no place to sit. After a quick scan, she sees a stool at the bar in between an old man and a girl with a one-year-old child. She decides that she could find much worse company in this town and sits down to place her order.
The young woman seems startled to see Regina sitting so close to her, but doesn't comment.
"Hello…who is this handsome boy?" Regina coos to the baby.
"This is Sam." The mom responds, while she looks curiously at Regina.
"He's very sweet."
"Thanks…he's not mine. I'm a nanny."
"Oh…it seems like a great job if you get to spend the day with him." Good with other peoples children. Check.
"Yeah I'm super lucky to be able to find work. Most people in town took their jobs back that they had in the first curse, but I came with the second so there weren't many options."
"That gives me an idea," Regina says finally looking up at the girl. "I should to set up a job placement programs for those like you who weren't prepared for the second curse."
"I suppose that's the least you could do..." The young woman says as she focuses her attention on the food being placed in front of her.
The woman's comment wasn't particularly malicious, but it was bitter enough for Regina to feel it was the end of that conversation. Believes I've changed. No check.
Then Ruby makes her way over to Regina to get her order. Regina has half a mind to get her food to-go but she doesn't want to go back to her work just yet.
She waits for her food in silence for a few moments before the man next to her speaks up.
"It's good to see you out and about, Madam Mayor."
"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting?"
"Ahh, we have actually. It was so many years ago though that I did not expect you to remember. My name is Harold…Sir Harold in the Enchanted Forrest. I was a knight for your father's house in my younger days. I met you a few times when you were just a child. "
Regina racks her brain trying to remember this man from her past but comes up short. She imagines that he must have looked quite different in his younger days. Perhaps he had a full head of hair… and hair that wasn't completely gray.
"Well than, it's nice to see you again." She says as her iced tea arrives.
Just then she hears her name being called from across the room. She looks up and sees a certain blonde Sherriff getting into a booth with her mother. She is waving Regina over to their table.
"If you'll excuse me." She says to the man, before getting off of her stool.
"I'd better be going anyway." He responds. "Have a nice day!"
"You too!" she says, and for the first time that day, she actually means it.
She makes her way over to the booth and looks at Emma. She hasn't seen the blonde in a while, and she is displeased to see that Emma looks as though she hasn't been sleeping.
"Come and eat with us." Emma says in a voice that sounds too chipper for her current appearance.
It shouldn't be that surprising of an offer really. They are friends. However, Regina still isn't use to having friends who would spend time with her simply because they want to.
"Thank you." She says as she slips into the booth next to Snow.
Ruby brings over her drink from the counter and takes the other women's orders.
"I'm sorry to hear about your break-up Regina. But don't give up hope. I'm sure you'll find your happy ending." Snow says once the waitress leaves.
Regina glares at the woman next to her. Of course she would immediately bring up the one thing I don't want to talk about. She may not hate Snow anymore but that doesn't mean that the other woman doesn't still annoy her most of the time.
Before Regina can even respond though, Emma interjects.
"I think if we've learned anything it's that "finding someone" does not equal "Happy Ending". She says it a bit more forcefully than she probably would have before dark curse.
"I'd have to agree." Regina says. She is grateful that Emma has saved them from the awkwardness of the conversation.
"Yeah just look at me and Hook." Emma continues, visibly trying to calm down. Regina thinks that she must be taking anger management lessons.
"We broke up on Tuesday." Emma further informs Regina.
"I had heard. I'm sorry. I'm sure it was for the best though." Regina says. She can't help but feel relieved that the pirate is no longer in their lives. Because she is resigned to the fact that anyone who is in Emma's life will be in hers also.
"Yeah." Is the only response Emma offers. However, what Emma wants to do is thank Regina. When Emma had found out that Regina had broken up with Robin, it had given her the courage to end things with Hook. If Regina could end things with her supposed "soul mate" because the situation didn't feel right, than she could surely do the same with her non-magical love connection.
"So, where is baby Neal today?" Regina asks to change the subject.
"David brought him, along on the boys day that he is having with Henry to celebrate the start of summer."
"With the hair cut you have I would think they would have invited you along on their boys day." Regina mumbles as she takes a drink.
Even though she mumbled, the comment is intentionally still loud enough that both women could hear. Mary Margret gives her and offended scoff , while Emma bursts out into laughter.
"You're the one to cut my hair in the first place!" Snow says. She sounds offended but Regina could tell she wasn't actually that upset by the comment.
"Yes dear, and sometimes I think that the shorter your hair gets, the more I like you." Regina responds.
"That's funny." Emma comments. "I was just thinking the opposite about you."
Now it's Regina's turn to look slightly offended.
"It's true." Emma says, clearly not put off by Regina's reaction. "The longer your hair gets, the nicer you become."
Regina wants to give a scathing retort but she finds that she can't. Despite herself, she feels her lips pulling into a smile. Emma's responding smile makes it worth the lack of a satisfactory comeback. Regina realizes that this is the second time in one day that her son's other mother has made her want to laugh.
Henry's words from the day before come back to her. She knows it's ridiculous to think that Emma is her "perfect" match, but she has to admit that the other woman does make a wonderful friend.
Sense of humor. Check. Regina begrudgingly thinks to herself.
The rest of the lunch is spent having an agreeable chat about everyone's respective work. When Regina goes back to her office that afternoon she feels much better about her day. Nevertheless, she doesn't feel like talking to any more new people today and tells her secretary not to let anyone bother her.
Regina has dinner alone that night since Henry is still out with his grandfather. It's a pretty lonely experience, being in the big house by herself. Sometimes she likes to be alone. In fact, she used to love it as a small child. That was probably because the solitude meant that Cora wasn't actively ruining her day though. Still, after a day being spent around so many people, she finds she misses the company tonight.
She finds herself on the sofa, with a book in her hand, as she waits for Henry to get home. The book however, is left unread on her lap. She's thinking about her day, knowing Henry will demand to know all about it. She can't help but think that the only good part of the day had been her lunch with Emma and Snow. They were truly becoming…a family. Regina wonders if this sense of "Home" will grow to be enough of a Happy Ending on its own.
"Hi Mom!" Henry says as he busts though the door.
"Hello Henry." She gets up to give her son a hug. They then both sit on the sofa together. "How was your fist day of summer vacation?" She asks
"It was so awesome. Gramps took Neil and me on a hike and we had like a picnic in the woods but we cooked some of the food over a fire that we made ourselves. Did you know there was a waterfall in Storybrooke?" He says excitedly
"I did, in fact. Although I've never been there myself." She says. She's happy her son had such a good day.
" It was so cool. We should go sometime!"
"Maybe."
"Come one! You could even poof us there if you don't want to hike in the woods all day! And we could go swimming in the lake by the waterfall!"
"Okay Henry, maybe this Saturday." She doesn't desire to do any of those activities, but she wants to keep Henry this excited.
"Cool! So, how did your day go?" He immediately starts to question her.
"Overall it wasn't too bad." She starts, "I am getting tired of trying to be friendly to strangers though. They're all idiots and all they do is complain. The only nice person I met was an old man that use to know my father."
"That's good progress!" Henry says, not discouraged by his mother's other comments. "Remember, these tasks aren't only meant to help you find your perfect match, they are meant to better your life. To help you find people who can share in your Happy Ending." Henry reminds her.
"You're right." She concedes as she gives him another hug. "I think it's time for me to go to bed. What is my task for tomorrow?" She asks as she gets up to leave the room.
"Hmmm." He says as he thinks. "I think you should continue to talk to new people, but I also think you should try and have a more personal conversation with someone. Try and get to know them."
"I'll try." She responds as usual.
The next day, Regina immediately tries the new "get to know" someone task. If she's being honest with herself, she's starting to enjoy the tasks a little. They are like a game that keeps her day interesting.
"Hello gentlemen." She greets the two guards on the way in. Her Mayor persona is already firmly in place.
They both nod their head in recognition. Today, Regina won't let them get away with that though.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced. As I'm sure you know, I'm Regina." She says as she sticks out her hand for them to shake. Neither man's stoic facial expression changes as she speaks.
"Christian." The mustached man says as he gives her hand a quick shake.
"Carl." The other man says.
"I appreciate that you men come in so early to work. I'm sure you'd much rather be sleeping." She comments, hoping to spur a conversation.
Both men just shrug their shoulders as if their sleep didn't mean anything to them one way or another.
This is the last straw for Regina for today. With a sigh she bids them a good day and makes her way to her office.
The rest of the day followed in much the same manner. Someone would call, or stop by, to complain about god knows what, and Regina would try to deal with them in a patient and friendly fashion. If someone was receptive to her friendly tone she would try to further the conversation, but the other person would end up saying something completely idiotic or rude and ruin it.
That's why, when she heard a knock on her office door around 2pm her immediate response was less-than welcoming.
"What?!" She snaps at the sounds
"Geeze, sorry." The person says. Regina's head snaps up as she recognizes the voice.
"Oh thank god it's you." She can't help the words from slipping out of her mouth upon seeing her son's other mother walk through the door.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that." Emma says with a laugh.
She comes in a sits down on the other side of Regina's desk.
"What has your knickers in a twist?" Emma asks
"This town is full of idiots." She responds
"Yeah, what else is new?" Emma says "Why is it a problem today?"
"I promised Henry that I would be nice, and try to get to know some new people."
"Ahh" Emma responds. Regina knows that Emma understands how persuasive Henry can be. She is quite possibly the only other person who he could rope into doing something they so wholeheartedly did not want to do.
Loves Henry. She thinks begrudgingly as she checks another item off the mental list.
"Yes well it's all apart of his latest attempt to get me my Happy Ending." She adds. She's not sure why she is compelled to tell Emma about this. Maybe it's because your friends. She tries to convince herself.
"What does this new operation of his entail?" Emma asks
"We never actually called it an operation…but I suppose it's similar." She says pondering the idea. "First he had me write down all of the qualities I would want in a partner and then burn the paper."
"What type of wicken nonsense has he been watching on TV?" Emma asks
"I was wondering where he got the idea as well. I suppose it was the process of reflecting on all the qualities that he was focusing on."
"Yeah I guess that's smart. What else did you do?"
"Henry has given me a task everyday that involves getting to know more people and being nice to them."
"Ahh. Which has evidently has not been going so well."
"Clearly."
"Well, I think this is a good thing. If I can do anything to help just let me know. You deserve a Happy Ending…and I still never really fulfilled my promise to find you one."
Believes in my happy ending. Check. Each time Regina checks an item off her mental list it becomes easier to do so.
"I think you've done more than enough for me."
"Nah, it's what friends do."
"Friends…"
"You basically told me that your Happy Ending included me when I was under the Dark curse and now you're going to try and deny that we're friends!?"
"I wasn't going to deny it. The word just seems…insufficient in describing our relationship."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Perhaps it's because we share a child?"
"We're all sorts of family, but…"
"But what?"
"Well, you're also kind of my best friend."
"Oh"
"I never really had any friends besides Lilly and then Mary Margaret, and look how both of them turned out."
"I understand dear, I never really had friends either. In fact…you're still one of my only friends."
Understands each other. Check.
"Does mean I'm your best friend?"
"By default, I suppose."
"That's good enough for me."
After that there is a pause in the conversation as both women think about how they could have possibly ended up best friends.
"Did you come in today for a reason?" Regina asks, realizing Emma must have had a purpose other than to talk about Regina's Happy Ending.
"Right! I was wondering if you and Henry had plans this weekend."
"He did mention wanting to take me to the waterfall that he saw with your Father tomorrow."
"Oh. Okay. That sounds fun." Emma sounds like she means this, but Regina thinks she also sounds a little disappointed.
"Would you like to come with us?" Regina asks
"I wouldn't want to intrude on your mother-son bonding time." Emma hastily replies.
"It would still technically be mother-son bonding time if you came too." She reminds the other woman.
"I guess your right." Emma concedes with a chuckle. "What time are you going?"
"How about you meet us at our house at 8."
"I can do that." Emma says and gets up to leave.
Regina doesn't know why but she doesn't want their conversation to end just yet.
"Emma?" She says when the other woman is almost at the door.
"Yes?" Emma says, turning to face her.
"What's your favorite color?" She blurts out. She's not sure why this question appeared in her mind, but it seemed easy enough.
"I don't really have one. Why?"
"Just trying to fulfill today's task." She responds. It's not technically a lie.
"Okay then…I would have probably said yellow a few years ago-"
"Like your insipid car." Regina interrupts
"Exactly like my beautiful car." Emma responds without missing a beat. "But now, I don't know…purple?"
"Why has it changed?" She asks
Emma shrugsand… Is she blushing? Regina wonders in amazement.
"I really like the shade of your magic." Emma feels embarrassed to admit this and she's not sure why. She decides that it's because magic is so innate to a person, that complimenting on it's color is like complimenting someone's body. She doesn't want her embarrassment to show though so she continues rambling. "Mine is white. That's so boring."
Regina gives her a pleased smile.
"White means it's pure dear. After everything you've gone through you should be proud of it's color." Regina says softly.
"I guess." Emma says. Then she turns to walk to the door once more. "See you tomorrow."
"Yes, Have a nice day dear." Regina adds before the blonde walks out the door.
"So…" Henry begins as they're sitting down to dinner.
"Yes?" Regina says. She knows that he is about to ask her about today's task but feels like putting it off as long as she can.
"What did you learn today?"
"Emma's favorite color is purple." She feels herself smile as she remembers the other woman's reasoning.
"You talked to Emma today?" He says with a mischievous smile.
She rolls her eyes. She is nowhere near close to admitting that she had been thinking about Henry's advice concerning his biological mother. "Yes Henry. In fact, she's going to be coming with us tomorrow on our hike." She informs him.
"Really?! Cool!."
Regina smiles at her son's enthusiasm. "You should call her after dinner and tell her to bring her bathing suit if you want to go swimming in that lake."
"Okay, I will!" He says as he shoves a fork full of macaroni into his mouth.
"You know asking her favorite color is not what I had in mind when I said "get to know" someone" He says once he has swallowed. "Did attempt with anyone else though?"
She tells him about her conversation (or lack of one) with the two mute guards. Henry loves to hear about them. That's probably why Regina tortures herself trying to talk to them everyday.
After dinner, Henry goes right up to his room. He knows he's going to have a tiring day tomorrow and wants to get all of his stuff packed tonight. Regina goes to bed not long after him. She finds that she can't fall asleep due to a nervous feeling in her stomach. No, not nervous. She corrects herself. Anxious. But no matter how much she tries to convince herself that there is nothing to be anxious about, the feeling doesn't go away.
She slept fitfully that night.
At exactly 8am the next morning there is a knock at the door.
"I'm impressed by your punctuality, Miss Swan." Regina says as she opens the door.
"Good Morning to you too, Regina." The younger woman responds
Regina gives Emma a once over before she lets the other woman through the door. Emma is dressed very similarly to how she was during their trip in Neverland. The only real difference being, that now she had a bathing suit strap peaking out from her tank top.
As soon as they're in the foyer, Henry comes in from the kitchen with a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth.
"Hi ma." He mumbles
"Hey kid." Emma says
"Henry, don't talk with your mouth full." Regina responds at the same time as Emma.
He gives his mothers an apologetic look and returns to the kitchen. He comes back out after only a few moments though, toast free, and ready to leave.
They drive out to a hiking trail about 20 minutes from the mansion. It's close to the edge of town, but as long as they follow the path they won't leave town limits.
The walk itself takes hours though. After about an hour, all of them are sweltering. Eventually even Henry has stopped his constant chatter and is conserving his energy for walking.
It takes about two hours to finally see a break in the trees, which Henry insists is the correct clearing.
When they finally break through the trees, a breathtaking waterfall appears on the other side. And takes their breath away, it does. All three of them stand in silence for a few moments to take in the serenity. Directly in front of them is a small path of gravely sand leading into a small lake. The water of the lake is perfectly clear, and you could see that it must be at lest 30 feet deep.
Cliffs surround the opposite side of the lake. To the right, there is a waterfall cascading off the side. Where the water from the waterfall, meets the water from the lake, an iridescent rainbow appears.
"You created this." Emma finally says quietly. Her awe is evident in her voice.
Regina hadn't thought of it that way, but she supposes that this spot technically wouldn't exist if she hadn't enacted the first curse. She can't think of a proper response to what was obviously a compliment. But she turns toward Emma anyway and finds that the other woman was staring at her. The sheer amazement in Emma's eyes almost causes her to blush.
Thankfully, Henry breaks up their moment when he shouts, "The water is warm!"
He has already kicked off his shoes and water is lapping against his feet.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Emma asks.
Regina immediately sits down on a nearby rock and starts to take off her boots. It turns out to be much more of an annoyance than she had preciously anticipated, as she had laced them up very tight that morning.
She finally kicks them off and looks up. She is momentarily frozen in place. Emma, already stripped down into her yellow bikini, is standing on top of one of the taller cliffs. Before Regina can even begin to imagine what she is doing, or how she climbed up the side so fast, Emma does a perfect Swan dive right into the water. Her muscular body arched in a way that suggests practice.
Regina instinctively stands up as Emma hits the water. When a blonde head breaks the surface again, she releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding. The head is immediately followed by the rest of the woman's, now glistening, body as she swims to the shallow edge of the lake and walks out of the water.
Brave and Attractive. Check and Check.
Regina stays frozen as she mentally checks the last item off her list.
The list does describe her. But surely that doesn't mean anything. Just because something is perfect on paper, doesn't it's perfect in reality. You should be with someone because of the feelings they invoke in you, not because the relationship makes sense logically.
"Hey, are you alright?" Emma says. Regina hadn't realized how close the other woman had gotten while she was lost in her thoughts. Now, with Emma was so close she would feel her presence.
"I was worried for a minute that we may have to cut this day trip short to bring you to the hospital." And Regina is happy she could formulate a response at all, let alone a sassy quip.
"It's perfectly safe, you should try it." Emma says
"I think I'll stick to swimming for now." She says and moves away from the other woman so she can continue stripping into her bathing suit.
When she's done she joins the others in the water. She has to admit that it is a great temperature. It's cold enough to cool them down after the long hike, but it's warm enough to not be uncomfortable. After a few minutes of swimming Henry decides that he wants to try cliff jumping also. Regina is skeptical of the idea, but she allows it only because both his mothers have magic and could protect him if anything were to go wrong.
He starts by jumping off some off the smaller cliff hangings. It turns out he's actually pretty good at it. It must be genetics. She thinks, remembering Emma's perfect dive.
After a few of these jumps, he starts trying to convince Regina to jump too.
"Come on Mom! It's really fun!"
"Yeah Regina, you should try it! I'll even go up to the top with you." Emma offers.
Regina knows that they won't let up until she gives in so she does. Nevertheless she's more than a little reluctant.
Regina pauses at the side of the cliff. She sees the path in a straight uphill climb and suddenly she has that nervous feeling in her stomach again. But she refuses to let that stop her and she starts her trek up. Emma must have sensed her dread though because the next words out of her mouth are: "Is the Ex-Evil Queen afraid of heights? Didn't you use to ride horses?" It's said in a teasing manner but Regina still doesn't appreciate the implication.
"I am not afraid." She says. And she's really not. She knows that her magic will protect her. "I merely don't like heights." She corrects.
"Yeah, sure." Emma says in a disbelieving tone.
"I did almost fall to my death once." Regina says, to justify her trepidation.
"Really?" Emma says, intrigued.
"Yes. Tinkerbell saved me. That's how we met." She explains as they reach the top of the cliff.
"Well you don't have to jump if you're uncomfortable. I won't make fun of you…at least not too much." Emma says honestly.
Regina doesn't even dignify that with a response. She simply turns toward the cliff and unceremoniously jumps off the side. She has no idea if she's supposed to brace herself, or point her toes, or anything, so she simply holds her breath and hopes for the best.
As soon as she surfaces from the water she feels a splash somewhere close by and assumes Emma has jumped too.
"Wasn't it awesome!" Henry says as he practically attacks her with a hug in the water.
"I wouldn't use the word awesome," She says, "but it wasn't terrible."
The rest of the morning/afternoon is spent swimming and laying around eating the fruit salad that Regina brought with them. This led to Emma grumbling about how "Of course Regina would only bring healthy snacks." and earning a glare from the brunette.
Overall, by the time they decided to head back, it was almost two in the afternoon and they were thoroughly exhausted. The sun and exercise wore them out.
"Can you poof us to the car?" Henry asks.
Regina rolls her eyes at the term "poof" but accepts that this is the terminology that will be used from now on.
"I think I may be too tired." She admits
"Here" Emma says and holds out her hand to Regina.
"What?" Regina asks, confused by the gesture.
"We'll do it together." Emma explains as she takes her and Henry's hand.
Regina feels the familiar spark as Emma grabs her hand. She tries to focus on the destination as their magic takes hold. Suddenly they are next to Regina's Mercedes, and Regina is even more exhausted than before. She leans against the car for a few moments before getting in the drivers seat.
"Are you okay to drive?" Emma asks once she slides into the passenger's seat.
"You're not driving my car, Miss Swan." She responds as she starts the car.
Emma simply laughs.
"Thanks for inviting me. I had fun." Emma says when they get back to the mansion. Regina notices that she is starting to make a bee-line for her bug and grabs her arm to stop her.
"You're welcome to stay and have dinner." She offers
"Yeah, stay Ma!" Henry says, encouraged by his brunette mother's offer. Maybe she is starting to see things my way. He had noticed that his mother had seemed a little warmer toward Emma today.
"Okay…but only if you agree to order something for dinner. You're too tired to cook." Emma says
"Very well." Regina responds as she unlocks the door and lets them into the house. She would normally snap at anyone who told her what she was feeling, but she couldn't help but be grateful at the concerned suggestion.
It's still way too early to order dinner, and Regina suddenly isn't sure what they should do with all the free-time beforehand.
"I think I need to shower off this forest smell." She says and walks toward the grand staircase.
As she's leaving the foyer she's pretty sure she hears Emma mutter, "Forest smell never seemed to bother her before." to Henry. Henry's responding laugh ended up being much louder than her words though.
She had half a mind to give a scathing retort about the smell of rum, but decided against it.
Once she was showered and presentable she came back downstairs. Emma and Henry sat in the living room playing video games when she walked in. She couldn't help the smile forming on her face.
"You seem to be pretty bad at this game, Miss Swan." She says
Emma gives her a sideways glace and smiles. "He has a lot more practice than I do!" She defends herself. "I think you allow him to play video games too much."
"Hey!" Henry says. "Don't try to get me into trouble just because you're a sore loser."
"I'm not loosing!" Emma insists
"You just did!" Henry nearly shouts as his car passes the finish line. He throws his hands up in a show of victory.
"Fine kid, you beat me, happy?" She asks
"Extremely." He says, and picks up his remote again.
However Emma puts hers down and looks fully at Regina.
"You look comfy." Emma says to her.
Regina looks down at herself. She had thought about putting on a dress and heels, but she was home, and tired, and the thought sounded very unappealing. She decided to put on jeans and a lightweight sweater. Now she was questioning her choice.
"Would you like to borrow some clean clothes?" She asks "I know you don't have a problem wearing other people's things." She adds, referring to her gray blouse, currently hanging in her closet.
"I gave that shirt back to you!" Emma defends
"Is that a yes or a no to the clothes?" Regina inquires
"Yes please."
Emma gets up and follows Regina into her bedroom.
"I've never been in here." Emma says unnecessarily.
"I would hope not." Regina responds. Yet, if Regina is being honest with herself, there is a small thrill of showing someone her bedroom. Not many other people have been in there.
"You own sweatpants!" Emma exclaims as they look through the closet.
"Yes, I own one pair of designer sweatpants." She responds much less enthusiastically than her co-parent.
"Can I wear them?" Emma asks as she holds them up. She gives Regina an almost sheepish look.
"Of course. The bathroom is behind us if you want to freshen up. I will be downstairs."
"Thanks." Emma says as she walks into the bathroom.
"Whatcha doing?" Emma asks when she comes back into the living room.
"It's still too early to order pizza, so I figured we could start watching a movie first." Henry says with his back to her. He is riffling though the cabinets of the TV console.
"Sounds good to me." Emma says as she sits on the opposite side of the sofa from Regina.
Henry selects a movie and comes to sit between his two mothers.
A half an hour later, Henry is asleep with his back leaning against Emma and his feet on the coffee table.
Regina had tried for years to break him of this habit, but to no avail.
"Do you have any idea what is happening?" Emma whispers to Regina. While her eyes are still trained on the screen.
"Obviously the blue aliens are winning a battle against the red aliens. They are having a war because the man with the tentacles, presumably ate the human man's bunny." She makes up on the spot. Although it doesn't seem to be too far from the truth.
Emma has to cover her mouth so she doesn't laugh too loudly and wake Henry.
"So you have no idea either, huh?" Emma says in between laughs.
"Of course I don't! This movie is preposterous!" She whispers angrily. Secretly she is pleased to hear Emma's laugh.
"I think your movie would be way better than this." Emma offers, finally facing Regina.
"Perhaps I'll write it one day." Regina muses.
"Can I be in it?" Emma asks
"I don't know if writers get a say in casting, but I'll put in a good word for you." She responds.
Emma contemplates this for a moment and then says, "You're actually really funny when you're not being so standoff-ish."
"How sweet of you to notice." She deadpans
"No, I'm serious. I had a lot of fun today." Emma says. "I think I needed it." She adds after a beat.
"What do you mean?" Regina whispers back. Aware that Emma has said those words to her before.
"Well…this is the first weekend I would have been alone. Henry was with you, and Hook and I aren't together…" Emma says and refuses to look at her again.
All of a sudden Regina remembers why Emma had come into her office yesterday. Emma had wanted to know what her and Henry had plans that weekend, but Regina realizes now that she never asked the other woman why she wanted to know of their plans.
"Ahh" Regina says as she begins to understand the situation.
"Yeah…during the week it wasn't so bad because I had work and my parents to distract me but…"
"There is nothing to distract you this weekend." Regina concludes. "Where are your parents?"
"They have a baby and a social life of their own…plus…they can't really understand the situation…at least not like you could. They're supportive of my decision to break up with Hook but…they've only ever been in love with each other. They don't understand that sometimes loving someone isn't always enough of a reason to be in a relationship with them. "
And Regina does understand. When it's put that way, Emma's situation is not unlike her own regarding Robin. Just because she understands, doesn't mean she knows how to make the blonde feel better though.
Finally she says the only thing she can think of. "Well, anytime you want to get away from the Charming you are more than welcome here…Henry loves when you're around and…I could use the company."
Emma gives her a watery smile, and Regina knows in her heart that she said the right thing.
"I should order the pizza now." Regina says and stiffly gets up from the couch.
Before she can fully leave the room though, she hears a whispered "thank you."
They wake up Henry once the pizza arrives, and Regina allows everyone to eat in the living room, on the condition that the food is eaten over the coffee table and not on the sofa.
"So Henry…" Regina begins, when they start eating. "You never gave me a task for today."
"Oh…I don't think you need the tasks anymore." He says
"Really?" She asks curiously
"Yeah well, I think you should still try and talk to new people and everything but I think I've realized that the only way to have a Happy Ending is to just have it. Start living your life everyday as if you already attained your Happy Ending. Do what you like to do with the people you like, and you'll be happy." He concludes.
Both his mothers stare at him with slack jaws.
"I swear sometimes you're a 60 year old man in a 14 year olds body." Emma finally responds.
"Yes, our son has always been very wise for his age." Regina agrees.
"Well, your son thinks it's wise for us to start the movie again." Henry decides.
"Maybe he's even smart enough to explain the plot to his mothers." Emma wonders aloud.
About an hour and a half later they finish watching the movie. Now that Henry is awake to explain the plot, the two women understand it much more. Although Emma still tells Regina that her movie idea was better.
After the movie, Henry is almost asleep again so his mothers insist that he go upstairs to bed. So following a quick goodbye to Henry, Emma makes her way toward the door.
Regina almost invites Emma to stay a while, but Emma looks exhausted and the last thing Regina needs is for the blonde woman to fall asleep at her house.
Once Emma has her boots on again, she opens the door and stops on Regina's front porch. Regina is having déjà voo because this is almost the exact same position they were in a few weeks ago after Hook proposed.
Just like last time too, neither woman knew how to say goodbye.
"Thanks for today." Emma starts. "I'll make sure I bring you back your pants sometime this week."
"No rush. And thank you for joining us."
"Yeah maybe we could do more stuff together as a family." Emma suggests.
As soon as Emma says family, Regina gets such a strong sense of longing it almost knocks her off her feet. All of a sudden she can picture her future so clearly.
Her, Emma, and Henry, all living at the mansion. Having family dinners, and outings. Emma making her spend time with the Charmings, which she would pretend to hate, but secretly not mind that much. Emma leaning on her while watching a movie. Emma kissing her before she goes off to work…
The images flood Regina's mind in a relentless stream. She ends up grabbing onto the doorframe for support.
She must have been quite for too long because Emma speaks again and sounds more self-conscious than before.
"Okay…I guess I'll see you soon. Goodnight." Emma words help to bring Regina back to reality.
"Good Night Emma…remember anytime you want to come over..." She reminds her.
When Emma smiles brightly and waves goodbye, all Regina can think is:
Crap Henry was right.
