Scour the Earth…For You
Summary: NYC: Emma and Henry are happy, despite confusing dreams of a woman they've never met. FTL: Regina is drowning, between fighting the Wicked Witch and trying to find a way back to her family. Can a miracle help? How will she break through their new memories when she does get to them? Spoilers through 3x11 then AU
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Part 3: Reunited
Dreams to Reality
Emma looked up from the TV to the door, brow furrowed. Who could be knocking at this time of day? Emma herself was only home because she had finished up a case late last night. The middle of the afternoon on a Friday wasn't a typical day for people to be stopping by, not that anyone ever really stopped by at all. Still, she stood, muting the sound and double checking the clock to make sure it was too early for Henry to be home from school and have forgotten his key. It was, so she walked over and opened the door.
She wasn't sure who she was expecting, but the put-together, and gorgeous, brunette woman on the other side was definitely not it. Emma blinked as she took in the woman in a deep purple blouse under a black blazer and black pants, a strange feeling of deja vu overcame her. Emma felt pleased to see her, as if she was a familiar old friend and yet she had no memory of her. She also felt, safer? No, more alive perhaps, just being in this woman's presence. She resisted the urge to shake her head at the strangest feelings the woman was making swirl around inside her.
Luckily, Emma was so distracted by her own sudden and confusing feelings that she didn't notice the strange look that flashed on the other woman's face as she took in Emma, in her tight jeans and black vest over a white short sleeved shirt. Otherwise, she would no doubt have been even more confused by the strange mix of pain, hope, and longing that flitted over the brunette's face before being replaced with a polite expression, the emotions only still visible in her deep brown eyes.
"Hello?" Emma asked, suddenly feeling like she had been staring for a while, although it had in fact only been a few seconds.
The woman flashed a practiced smile, "Hello, my name is Regina Mills." She paused for a split second there, before continuing briskly, "I just moved in upstairs and I wanted to meet some of my new neighbors."
Emma mentally raised an eyebrow, rather amused. Regina was definitely new if she was trying to get to know her neighbors in New York City, but Emma had heard there was an apartment in the building up for sale. "Oh, well, it's nice to meet you then. I'm Emma, Emma Swan."
A small movement and sound drew her attention away from the brunette's captivating eyes, and she was startled to see a little girl standing there, her hand curled in Regina's pant leg. "Mommy, present." Her voice was small but sure, her eyes perfect replicas of Regina's own. She stared up at Emma, half hiding behind Regina.
"Hello there," Emma greeted, her voice friendly as she leaned down slightly. "And what's your name?"
"Sophia Mills," the girl said, moving a bit further out from behind her mother. Emma could now see that her wavy hair was a couple of shades lighter than her mother's and down to her shoulders. The girl looked to be about two or three and was wearing a cute lilac dress. "Nice t' meet you."
Emma smiled and the girl smiled back before looking up at her mother again. "Mommy," she repeated, her voice more insistent, "present."
Regina quickly schooled her face back into a, hopefully, more casual expression, ruthlessly suppressing the feelings that arose from Emma and Sophia finally meeting. "Thank you for reminding me, dear," she said to Sophia before her eyes returned to Emma's. "I made lasagna, as a welcoming gift."
Emma's eyes lit up as they settled on the glass dish in Regina's hands. Man, she was really off her game if she missed the kid and the food. What was it about this woman? She pushed the confusion aside and smiled broadly, "Well, then you're definitely welcome in my place, although I'm pretty sure other people are supposed to bring you housewarming gifts. Why don't you come in and we can share it? I can give you a rundown on the surrounding blocks and who a few of the other people in the building are at least."
Regina smiled. "Thank you. That sounds wonderful."
Emma stood aside so that Regina and her daughter could come in. As Emma shut the door behind them, she suddenly realized why Regina looked so familiar—she was the woman from her dreams—literally. The images from her mind, replicated in her sketchpad, suddenly connected with this living, breathing woman in front of her and Emma had to work hard to control her gasp.
What did this mean? How could she actually be real? Why was she at her apartment? Why now?
Emma had no answers and a million more questions. She gathered the remains of her composure, she needed to act casual and not scare Regina away. Who knew what the dreams meant, but maybe Regina knew and that meant she needed to find out as much as she could about the mysterious brunette.
She told herself that was the most reasonable course of action and had nothing to do with her own attraction and draw to the other woman. Emma took a deep breath and turned to see Regina looking at a picture of her and Henry. She smiled and said, "My son and I a few months ago."
Regina didn't turn but continued to look at the picture, "He's a very handsome boy. How old is he?"
"Twelve," Emma said, moving past them and missing Regina's now glistening eyes to lead them into the kitchen, her own thoughts circling too frantically to notice the other was in a similar state.
"I must confess I knew you had a son," Regina admitted. "That's why I decided to approach you first." She reached a hand out to run her fingers through her daughter's hair—comforting herself.
"Ah, I get that." Sometimes it felt safer to approach another parent. Somehow, glancing at the little girl helped Emma to regain a firmer grasp on reality. Her literal dream woman was an actual person, she reminded herself, with a kid of her own, she was real. "Well, I'm certainly glad you chose us, if the smell of that lasagna is anything to go by."
They sat at the table, Regina setting down the lasagna. "Would you mind if we waited to heat that up? My son'll be home soon and I'm sure he'll want some. I'd try to save some for him, but it smells so good I'm afraid I'll just forget and eat it all."
Regina smiled, "I brought it for you, you can have it whenever you'd like."
"Mommy?" Sophia asked.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can I draw? Or TV? Or both? Talk boring if no food," the little girl explained.
Emma laughed, "I know that feeling."
Regina merely smiled indulgently at her daughter, "Alright." She drew a pad of colored construction paper out of her purse and a baggy of crayons. "Here you go," she paused right before she handed them over though, "Where do we color?"
"On the paper," Sophia answered in a sing-song voice that implied she'd memorized that particular answer, reaching for the art supplies. "Nowhere else."
"Good girl." Regina let the little girl take the drawing materials from her.
Sophia accepted them eagerly before turning to Emma. Once more, she looked rather shy as she asked, "May I watch your TV?"
Emma smiled at how carefully the girl focused on using all of her words. "Sure."
The brunette smiled before bounding off. Regina listen for a moment, hearing the TV turn on and made sure it was an appropriate show. She focused her eyes back on Emma, suddenly doubting whether she should really try to break the curse. Emma seemed happy, content, and after the disaster of Neverland and Pan…. Besides, she knew the blonde didn't know how to handle all the magic stuff. Was she just breaking the curse for her own selfish reasons? Then she thought of Henry, her son, and how Emma had looked when she explained her plan for their memories. Emma had longed for her family her whole life, she would want to be reunited with them and so would Henry. Henry would want to remember the rest of his family today. She remembered the look in his eyes, both other their eyes, as they drove away. He would want to come back, come home.
She focused back as Emma began to mention some of the other people who lived in the building as well as her favorite places to eat in the area. They were in the middle of discussing the school system when the sound of a door opening caught both of their attentions.
"Kid? Is that you?" Emma called.
"Nope!" Henry's disembodied voice carried to the kitchen. Regina worked very hard to keep her face still and to stop tears from falling. She hadn't heard her son's voice in over three years though and hearing it now made it feel as if no time had passed. "It's a burglar, come to steal all of your valuables!"
"You're gonna be disappointed," Emma joked back. "But the TV's in the front room!"
"Thanks for the tip!" It only took a moment, Henry stopping to leave his backpack and shoes by the door, for him to make it to the living room. "Um, Ma?" He had clearly spotted Sophia watching the TV. "Why is there a toddler in here?"
Regina could hear his footsteps as he got closer to the kitchen. Only a few seconds passed before a brunet head poked around the corner. The rest of the boy followed, wearing a T-shirt and jeans. It was all Regina could do not to cry at the sight of her baby boy, after all this time, and clutch him close to her.
"Oh," Henry said as he spotted Regina at the table, then his eyes got wide, as he made the connection even quicker than Emma had, and turned to Emma. "You found her?" he hissed, staring back at Regina.
It was enough to snap Regina out of her daze and she furrowed her brow in confusion. Emma's own eyes widened and she sent Henry a glare, "This is Regina Mills, she just moved in upstairs and wanted to say "hi". That's her daughter in there." Her tone clearly implied that he should stop talking.
"Oh," Henry flushed, but continued to study Regina far more closely than he probably should have. "Uh, nice to meet you."
Regina nodded and couldn't help the smile that grew on her face, "The pleasure is all mine." She refused to let the fact that it actually was all hers seeing as he couldn't remember her take away any of her happiness from this moment.
"Regina here made us some lasagna too," Emma said, hoping to distract Regina from Henry's slip-up.
"Really? Sweet," Henry said, the prospect of food successful in distracting him at least. "Thanks."
Sophia choose that moment to run in, darting to Regina's chair, evidently not wanting to miss out on all the excitement. "Hello there, sweetie."
Sophia smiled before leaning up to whisper something in her mother's ear that the other pair couldn't hear. They took the momentary distraction of their guests to silently communicate "how is the woman from our dreams here?" and "I have no idea but don't scare her off".
"Not yet, dear," Regina said, loud enough for the Swans to hear. "Soon. Why don't you go finish watching the TV while Miss—Emma," she corrected herself "and I talk."
"P'omise find when know?" Sophia asked.
"Promise," Regina answered with a kiss on the little girl's nose.
Emma only had a brief second to wonder why the interaction between mother and daughter seemed to warm her heart so much, beyond that it was adorable, when Sophia ran over and grabbed Henry's hand. "Come Hen'y," the little girl said, "TV."
Henry was only caught off guard by the confident little girl for a moment before he let himself get dragged off, a grin on his face and one last significant look to his mom.
Emma still looked flustered and while Regina was definitely curious about the "found her" comment, she decided not to push it immediately. They clearly didn't remember her and yet, they could tell she wasn't a total stranger, which was a good sign that Emma wouldn't kick her out when she tried to explain. Hopefully.
"He seems like a very smart young man," she said instead, working hard to keep the wistfulness out of her voice and the part of her that wanted to follow the kids and hug her lost son to her.
Emma grinned, "Thanks, he is. All my influence of course."
"I see," Regina's eyes twinkled.
Emma winked before asking, "Would you like anything to drink?"
"Coffee?" Their plane had arrived last night and so sleep had not come easily, not when she knew the rest of her family was just below her—waiting.
"Sure thing," Emma moved to start the coffee pot, rather desperate for some caffeine herself. Too bad it wasn't later. Then they could have gotten something stronger.
Regina internally debated with herself. Should she bring up Henry's curious words? They most certainly had to do with the curse. She doubted she would get a better opening. Emma was probably as relaxed as she would get. "What did your son mean?"
Emma flinched slightly, "What do you mean?"
Somehow the blonde didn't even have to turn around to know Regina was giving her a very skeptical look.
"Really, dear?" the brunette's voice was very dry.
Emma turned around with a sheepish smile, coffee pot on and no longer a good distraction. When Regina merely raised her eyebrows for Emma to explain, the blonde ran her hand through her hair before holding her hands out in a placating manner. "Look, I promise we're not crazy," she began.
Regina swallowed what surely would have been a slightly hysterical laugh. Wasn't she the one supposed to be saying that? "A most reassuring opening line."
Emma made a face at the tease before looking rather nervous again. "I'm just not sure how to put this without sounding…"
"Crazy?" Regina supplied.
"Right."
"Well, I happen to be rather open-minded, dear. You seem sane enough to me." The brunette looked her over, as if measuring her. "In fact, if anything, you seem like the type who would not believe in anything too outlandish."
"I am! Or I'm not!" Emma hated negative statements like that. "What I mean is I normally need good evidence to believe in anything weird, but… I suppose I do have proof so…"
"So…?"
"Here's the thing, you've never been to New York, right?"
"Not until yesterday."
"Okay, good. So here's the thing I, and my son, well." She heaved a frustrated sigh. "We've been having these dreams." Regina still looked curious and nonjudgmental, if pretty confused, so Emma continued. "And these dreams are always about the same person. And we both started having these dreams and we didn't even realize the other was dreaming about the person too. But since we never talked about it, how could we be dreaming about the same person we've never even met? Right?"
Regina nodded to show she was listening, her face still casually polite. Inside however, she felt her hopes rising. Could Emma be implying what she thought she was?
"Okay, well, I never would have brought this up to a person I just met, or anyone at all really. But… The person we're dreaming about? Is you." Emma felt better having told Regina what was going on, about having told anyone actually, until her nerves began to get the better of her again. God, she sounded like a crazy person. She totally just ruined everything.
Emma and Henry shouldn't be able to remember anything about any of them. Even without her curse, the dissolving of the old one should have taken care of that. But both of them remembered her. She answered once she was sure her voice was as close to normal as she could make it, "Me?" She let the surprise filter out clearly, but hoped her inner joy stayed inside. They were dreaming of her, not Snow or her prince or anyone else from the town, but her. "Are you sure? Couldn't it just be someone who looks like me?"
Emma shook her head firmly. "I hadn't realized when I first met you but then I did. Henry just confirmed my suspicions, though I wish he'd kept it to himself for a bit longer. Oh! I can prove it to you, if you like?"
Regina raised her brows, "How on earth could you do that?"
Emma was relieved that the brunette didn't seem angry or fearful or even shocked. Surprised, skeptical, and curious, yes, but she hadn't dismissed her, or began edging towards the door, yet. "Here, just wait." She swiftly left the room to grab her notebook.
Regina stayed in her seat, trying to decide what to do with this development. It was a good development for sure, anything that might give the truth some weight was helpful. It was very nice that Emma, through Henry, was the one who had brought up the fact that something was not quite right. This should make her job easier, as long as she played her cards right. For now she let her mind wonder about what Emma could be bringing.
She didn't have to wait long. Emma rushed back into the room carrying a red notebook. Regina furrowed her brow when Emma set it down in front of her. "Open it."
Regina did so, surprised to find that it was a sketchbook, not a normal notebook. Then her mouth fell open as she saw a fairly well rendered, pencil sketch of her face. "Oh my." She turned the page and there was another drawing, profile this time. The next page had her from a distance, sitting beside the bare skeleton of a window.
"See! It is you," Emma said, half triumphantly, half freaked out. "How is that possible?! It was strange enough when I thought I just kept dreaming of some random woman for months, but then I found out Henry was too. And now you're here! What the hell is going on?"
Regina pulled her eyes away from the drawings with regret. "You're not going crazy," she told the blonde reassuringly. She closed the book with a sigh and stood up so she could stand in front of Emma by the counter.
"Then what's going on!" Emma asked before her eyes narrowed. "You know what's going on, don't you?"
"Not exactly," Regina hedged. "But yes. I do know some of what's going on." Emma gave her a look the demanded she share what she knew. Regina sighed, her face showing how sad and tired she was when it had previously only been evident in her eyes. "We have met, you just can't remember."
"When?" Emma demanded, it seemed a lot more likely that they had met, the woman was just too familiar, especially when the other option was that her and Henry were now psychic and having prophetic dreams or something.
Regina dodged the question, "You forgot a few months ago."
"When the dreams started," Emma confirmed. "But I still don't understand how both of us could just forget you like that."
"It's not just me," Regina said, warily gauging Emma's reaction. "Think hard about your memories before that time a few months ago, before you moved here."
Emma frowned but did as she was asked. It was harder than she thought, when she went to think of the past from more than a year ago her mind sort of, glazed over it and she found herself almost redirected. She frowned harder, really concentrating. After a few seconds, Emma paled. "They're all…weird. They don't… They're vague and don't quite fit or something. I can't…" She thought harder trying to remember exactly where she and Henry had lived two years ago. The name of the city came to her right away, Boston. That felt right and yet, she couldn't remember what their apartment looked like or what the name of Henry's teacher was, the over all facts were there but she could access any details.
"What is going on? What's wrong with us?" Now she was scared, how had she not noticed this? Henry. This must affect him too. Were they sick? Had someone done this to them? What the hell was going on? Her eyes locked onto Regina's desperately. "Tell me right now!"
Regina didn't take the anger personally, frankly she was surprised it took so long for Emma to get there. "Something happened and your memories were affected. It took me time to figure out how to fix them and then find you. But I have and I can."
"You… What…" Emma felt so overwhelmed. "But what happened? What could mess with my mind like this?"
"I promise I would explain, if I thought the explanation would make any sense at all to you. But without your memories, none of it would." Regina looked at her pleadingly. "You must believe me. Am I lying?"
Emma sucked in a breath, she could tell that was an allusion to her lie detecting ability. She didn't have to check though, "I can tell that you think you're telling the truth. But that doesn't mean…"
"Give me a chance to try to fix this first," Regina cajoled. "After the first two attempts I promise I'll try to explain even though I don't think it will help without your true memories."
"I…" Emma felt trapped and so confused. She wanted to tell Regina to leave, and forget this whole mess, even if it did mean her memories weren't quite right. Her life was good. Then she remembered Henry. As long as this affected him, she needed to deal with it. "I guess…"
Regina smiled, relieved Emma was cooperating. "Thank you."
"What do you want to do though? Medicine or something?" She narrowed her eyes, "You don't wanna try and open up my head or anything, do you?" The completely scandalized look on Regina's face gave her her answer. She would have laughed if she hadn't been so freaked out.
"Of course not!" Regina frowned at her disapprovingly. "Brain surgery? Honestly."
"Alright, alright." Emma wasn't sure how the brunette glaring at her and looking at her like she was a complete moron was comforting, but it was. "So what do you wanna do then?"
"Well," Regina pulled her face back to a neutral expression, but Emma saw the momentary flash of nervousness. "The first thing to try is quick and more similar to trying to, to jolt your memories back with a reminder."
Emma furrowed her brow, "You mean like with pictures or something?"
"Or something," Regina said with a nod. She figured if it failed, she could excuse it with the lie that they had been in a relationship—an easy lie to work with until Emma's memories were restored. She would try it with Henry, if its failure wouldn't completely shatter her heart. Failure with Emma would only split it in two.
"Alright…" Emma agreed skeptically. Truthfully she didn't think something so simple sounding would work, but she felt rather inclined to do whatever Regina suggested. She felt a connection with the mysterious woman and she did seem to know what was wrong. Besides, it's not like Emma herself had any real clue about anything that was going on.
Regina stared into green eyes that were only a foot or so away, the pair having moved closer as they talked. She wasn't sure this would work, because things never worked out like this for her. Evil Queen's didn't get happily ever afters that began with the breaking of a curse with true love's kiss. Emma's story should end like that, but Regina wasn't sure yet of her place in it.
Her eyes darted down to Emma's lips as she tried to gather the courage to do what she came to do. Then her mind flashed to Henry and Sophia. Sophia, who's existence was really the only reason she thought that maybe, she might be Emma's true love. That Emma might love her back.
So, with that thought in mind, Regina leaned in and gently pressed her red lips to Emma's pink ones. Emma's eyes blinked once in surprise before closing as she gave herself over to the feeling of the beautiful brunette's lips. One of the blonde's hands was braced on the counter while the other reached to grip Regina's shoulder.
Now that she knew Emma wasn't going to reject her kiss, Regina pressed more firmly against her, mouth opening slightly as her hand cupped Emma's jaw. Emma was helpless to do anything but mimic her, already lost to the taste of the older woman. It was in that moment that a white-gold light burst from them, filling the apartment, and Emma's head began to fill with lost memories.
-x-x-x-
Restored
Emma gasped, the hand that had been on the counter was now clutching her head while the other tightened its grip on Regina's shoulder to what must have been a painful degree. Regina showed no concern for herself though, only looking at Emma with intense, concerned brown eyes. "Emma, are you alright?"
"Regina?" Emma managed, thoughts flooding her mind and leaving her very confused about what was happening, conflicting memories swirling. She was able to latch onto something though. She definitely remembered Regina.
Regina barely managed not to suck in breath at the way Emma said her name, the depth was back—something that had been lacking throughout their whole encounter—and recognition. Emma remembered.
She opened her mouth to say something, to try to determine the side effects from the memory spell breaking when the sound of running footsteps and indistinct words caught her attention. At the edge of her vision she saw a brown haired boy slid into view, quite literally in his socks, and nearly hit the doorframe. He righted himself, eyes darting around wildly before landing on her.
"Mom!" Before she knew it he crashed into her, arms wrapping tightly around her waist as he buried his head against her. Emma leaned back against the counter, the pounding in her head lessening just in time for her to retract her arm from Regina's shoulder. Regina's arms quickly wound around her son, not even moving an inch despite his sudden, rather forceful hug. He continued to repeat "mom" as she leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Oh, Henry. Henry."
Any other time, Henry would have protested at how tight his mom was hugging him, but this time he was hugging her back just as fiercely. He had missed her, he realized, even when he hadn't known it. He breathed in, her scent filling him with the feeling of safety and home.
Emma closed her eyes as her memories, of which she now had an extra set of, tried to straighten themselves out, causing a very bad headache in the process. Still, she could remember the bare basics—that she had given Henry up at birth, that Regina was his mother. The second curse. How was she even here? "Regina?" she asked, so confused.
Henry leaned back as Regina met Emma's eyes, seeing all the questions swirling in their depths. She smiled back down at Henry, "Why don't we sit down so I can explain everything?"
Henry nodded eagerly and Emma nodded gratefully. "How did you get here? What happened? I thought you were all sent back to the Enchanted Forest," Henry seemed to be asking every question that popped into his head while all Regina could do was smile indulgently at him.
"One at a time," she said as they sat down, Henry next to her and Emma across from them. "We were all sent back to the Enchanted Forest, but we managed to use magic to reset the curse and bring Storybrooke back."
"Reset the curse? Again? How? Did everyone else lose their memories?"
"I modified it so that no one lost their memories," she reassured him. "And only those who wanted to come back to Storybrooke came so the town is a bit smaller. But your grandparents and most of their friends decided to come. We had to wait a bit to make sure the town line could be crossed safely, but as soon as we were sure, I came to come bring you both home."
Emma took a sip of coffee as she tried to think. Parents. She had parents again. A home.
"Really? That's awesome!" Henry was almost vibrating with excitement and gave his brunette mother another little hug. And began asking about more specific people while Regina confirmed who had and hadn't come over. She watched Emma out of the corner of her eye, noticing the blonde's pale pallor and the hand that kept rubbing her forehead.
Finally Emma's eyes met her own and she could see that the younger woman was floundering under the weight of everything and she could see other questions, questions Henry hadn't thought to ask yet in her eyes.
"Henry, would you do me a favor?" Regina asked.
Henry looked up at her, brow furrowed in an obvious question.
"I need to talk to Ms. Swan about some things." 'Adult' things being the obvious implication. "So would you mind calling your grandparents to let them know that you both have regained your memories? I told them I would when I succeeded and they'd be thrilled to hear from you." She gave him a genuine smile.
"And you don't want to talk to them if you don't have to," Emma added wryly, trying to find her balance again.
Regina's eyes flicked to the blonde, her smile growing slightly at the woman finally sounding more like herself. "I don't know what you could be implying."
Henry rolled his eyes at the banter, but his smile stayed too, recognizing that they were teasing. Then he studied his brunette mother closely as he thought over what she was asking, "Is something wrong and you just don't want to tell me yet?"
"No," Regina protested as she focused back on her son, meeting his eyes squarely. "The town's still trying to pull itself together, but no one is in any danger, at least no more than they usually are. I promise I will answer any question you have, truthfully. We just need a moment to talk first. Please."
Henry's eyes moved to Emma, worried he was going to be left out, but believing his mother's sincerity. Emma smiled back, even if it was a little weak. "Yeah, kid. It's fine. Talk to your grandparents, spare your mom the annoyance, and then we'll all talk."
Henry frowned, but it was more due to how pale his blonde mother looked. He hoped she was okay, the sudden return of their memories seemed to have been harder on her than him. It was strange, but he felt lingering protective feelings towards her. While cursed, he'd grown up with her only and for all that he remembered their life being fairly easy, he now had a much broader picture of what life was like for typical single mothers. He had found himself thinking about life as him and his mom against the world in a way that he never had with his brunette mother simply because Storybrooke was so sheltered and Regina always seemed to in control over everything. Now, even though he knew he hadn't lived with Emma all his life, he found himself still feeling protective and worried for her, his adoptive mother too. Maybe it was just because he was older. He still didn't like how pale Emma looked since the curse broke.
He glanced back at his adoptive mother, fleetingly wondering if leaving them alone might make Emma worse, but decided he only saw concern in Regina's gaze. "Alright," he gave in before giving a sheepish grin, "I'd really like to talk to Gram and Gramps."
"Wonderful," Regina said. She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She pulled up Snow's number, which for some reason was still under 'Blanchard, MM' in her contacts. "Thank you very much, my dear."
Henry grinned and took the phone. They could just hear him say, "Gram?" as he left the room.
Once she was sure he was gone, Emma slumped in her chair, pressing her hand to her eyes, looking worn.
"Ms. Swan?" Regina asked tentatively, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine," Emma said automatically, moving her hand from her eyes to run her fingers through her hair. "My head just feels a bit too full, you know?"
"I can imagine."
"Wait," Emma said as something occurred to her, "Why isn't Henry affected like this? I mean I'm glad his head's fine, but…"
"There are two main reasons for that. Firstly, Henry is a child and children are more…elastic," Regina settled on, "when it comes to these kind of things. They bounce back well. Secondly, I tweaked his memories, reshaped them if you will. I had to give you ten years worth of new memories. That will obviously result in more…confusion. Especially since I had to do it with the mindset of it never being undone."
Emma nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense. So…" She really was grateful Regina had gotten them a chance alone where she could digest this shift in her world without having to worry about putting up a strong front for Henry. The constant twists of the past years were surely going to give her a stroke at this rate. She wasn't sure what to say or ask now that she had the chance. She was definitely avoiding how exactly her memories were restored for the moment, especially given how normal Regina was acting—she was half convinced she'd imagined it. "Everyone really is okay?"
"Yes, dear," Regina reassured her. "Some people chose to remain in the Enchanted Forest, but most came back to the reestablished Storybrooke. Your parents are fine and very eager to see you. I had to talk your mother out of being the one to come find you and after that she was even considering sending Hook."
"What?" Emma asked, laughing. "Really?"
"Really. Neither of them even really had a plan of how to find you or what to say once they did. I believe your parents thought their strange affinity for finding each other would guide them to you and Hook was going to use some compass. Your mother even seemed to think that knocking on your door and just telling you the truth would work." She shook her head in disgust.
"Seriously?" Emma asked, eyebrows raised as she scoffed. "All that would have gotten was the door shut in her face. Although I should have been more suspicious of even your approach—no one actually wants to get to know their neighbors in New York City."
Regina smirked at that.
"But really I think it was…" Emma paused, as if finally connecting two disparate thoughts and Regina mentally prepared herself for the upcoming questions, the real reason she had sent Henry out of the room. "It was the kid that convinced me to let you in," Emma finished her thought. "Who is she? How did…. What, did you like, borrow someone's kid?" She was clearly pulling for a joke with the last suggestion, trying to find an explanation that made sense, but it fell a little flat.
Regina gave her a stern look, "I did not take someone else's child, Ms Swan." Emma cracked a small smile at that, glad Regina was still unable to resist rising to the bait—at least some things hadn't changed. "I… This is why I asked…" She didn't finish, but Emma understood what she meant and braced herself for whatever the answer was going to be. "I didn't lie about Sophia. She is my daughter."
"What? How?" Emma asked immediately, surprisingly unsurprised by the news. Truthfully—beyond the fact it would have been very hard to get a little kid to act like that without the kid being an acting prodigy—the little girl was just too much like Regina for them to not to be mother and daughter. "You didn't like, get a new kid because Henry…"
"What! No, of course not!" Regina was completely appalled at the idea of replacing Henry and it reassured Emma completely. A tiny part of her had still been unsure before the new memories, that Regina just wanted a kid, not necessarily Henry. She was just so used to thinking of her old foster parents, the ones who wanted a kid for a meal ticket, not for the kid themselves or even her first family, who'd given her back. The memory crisis she was having was making those memories, the ones that hadn't been changed at all, stronger in her mind, seeming to be the most real and it was coloring her judgment. She couldn't help but marvel at how lucky Henry had been to get a real mother.
"You're right, I'm sorry," Emma said gently, nearly reaching out to put a hand on Regina's. "I shouldn't have asked."
Surprisingly, that seemed to work as Regina calmed herself down, "It's alright, I should have expected it to appear… Anyway, no. What you first must understand is that time passed differently in this world than the old world."
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean that, while it has only been a year since you and Henry last saw us, it has been longer for those of us sent back to the Enchanted Forest."
Emma digested that. "How much longer?"
Regina hesitated, "Around three years."
"Three years!" Emma's eyes were wide with shock.
"Yes, I'm afraid it took a great deal of time for me to figure a way to get everyone back here without unpleasant side-effects. Crafting such a large, powerful, and delicate spell takes time, and before that there was the problem of Elphaba… Since we returned, we needed to settle the town and locate you. Then we needed to make sure we could cross the line and who should go," Regina let out a sigh, resisting the urge to rub her forehead in memory of all the headache that had entailed. The whole process had been exhausting.
"Wow," Emma could barely believe Regina, everyone, had gone to all this trouble just for her—well, she supposed it was for Henry. That made a bit more sense, but still, she couldn't help but briefly think of what just happened (which she was definitely not dealing with at the moment) and that maybe at least some of that effort was to get her back too. "I can't believe it's been so long for you. Actually, I can't believe you've let Henry out of your sight. To talk to my mother of all people."
"Yes well, there is your original question still to be dealt with and I'm not sure… Sophia is my daughter, but I didn't… I gave birth to her," Regina finally admitted.
Emma's eyes went wide. "Wha…?" She had no idea how to respond to that, no idea why she felt so crushed (which was a lie because she did). "But she's at least two years old. How long after…" How long after you lost our son (lost us) did you find a new family?
"Actually, although I did not know it at the time, I was already pregnant when we were sent back and you two had your memories replaced."
Regina was clearly still nervous, and the way she was talking was strange, like she was explaining around something. It was making Emma more nervous herself, like this wasn't the most shocking part and that was still to come. Then her face screwed up in confusion, "Before? But we were on Neverland and before that you had just been—" She stopped herself before she said the word "tortured" but it hung in the air between them. Suddenly Emma was even more in awe of Regina and all she had done for their son at that horrible island so soon after that. They had never even had a moment to breathe after it all went down and now that she did… Wow.
"Yes, quite. I… Sophia was not conceived through… traditional methods," Regina said, a slight flush on her cheeks.
"What are you even trying to say?" Emma was too confused to even follow the brunette's cryptic words and couldn't hold the question burning in the back of her mind any longer. "Who's the father?"
Regina looked hesitant once more, something that still freaked Emma out because of how infrequently Regina hesitated, before saying, "Sophia doesn't have a father."
"What? Of course, she does," Emma brushed off, now almost offended Regina was trying to keep this from her. "Even Henry technically has a father, for all that Neal doesn't deserve the title."
Regina shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "Sophia quite literally doesn't have a father. She wasn't conceived because I slept with anyone. She was conceived through magic."
"What? Are you saying you magically got yourself pregnant? Because then how could you not have known…?"
Regina finally gave in to her frustration, "For goodness sakes, dear! I said she didn't have a father, not that she didn't have another mother!"
The significant, if slightly frustrated, look Regina gave her, coupled with that statement, was finally enough for Emma to realize what the brunette was getting at because there's only one person Regina had been making magic with. Emma went pale, her mouth falling open.
Regina softened at the blonde's shock, pulling herself back together, and continued her explanation in a calm voice. "When we disabled the trigger, our magic combined in a very unique way and sent out a blast when we finished. Your magic is that of true love and it is the most powerful in all the lands. This, occurrence, is not without precedent, although normally it requires significantly more… intent for it to happen. But yes. I'm afraid that your magic and mine managed to create a child, Ms. Swan."
Emma let out a slightly hysterical laugh, but mainly seemed to be concentrating on her breathing. It was funny how, despite how completely ridiculous this whole thing sounded, she believed every word that just came out of Regina's mouth. "You know, I figured being a girl would stop be from having any kids I didn't know about and yet twice, apparently, I've had a kid show up at my apartment and turn out to be mine."
Regina smiled at that, "Yes, the universe does seem to enjoy irony. I know this is a great surprise, trust me. I was very confused when I finally figured out what was wrong with me." Emma gave another weak laugh at that, not even being able to imagine how that felt, and Regina continued on a bit more confidently, "I wanted to give you some time to process this before telling Henry, because you do have a choice in this."
Emma narrowed her eyes in confusion, "What'd you mean?"
"I know this was unplanned and I would understand if you did not want to… claim her." She really wouldn't, not completely, because she loved her daughter with all her heart, but she knew that Emma feared commitment and being a mother and this was most undoubtedly the strangest thing that had ever happened to the blonde in her whole life—wardrobe and world jumping and Henry showing up at her door included—and she knew that if Emma wasn't fully committed that it would be best not to try, that that would hurt the most in the long run. "You don't need to, if you don't want to. I don't want to force you to accept even more responsibility than you feel you… I was a single mother before and I have been again, but I also want you to know that if you want to be Sophia's mother, you can." This needed to be Emma's choice.
Emma could only stare at Regina; her mind working furiously to process all that she was just told. She had another kid, a daughter. And Regina wanted to know if she wanted that, wanted Sophia, wanted to be a part of her life. She felt like she should be angry about one of the choices she was being offered, offended even, but she wasn't sure by which one and she wasn't. She could see the sincerity in Regina's eyes, that she wasn't judging, that she really is asking, and that she would accept either choice.
"I…" Her mind filled with the now vague and slightly faded memories of Henry as a baby, Henry as a toddler, Henry as a little kid, and Henry as the kid he still was and she thought about getting to experience that for real and actually living through it with her daughter. Did it terrify her? Yes. Did she want it anyway? "Yes," she said, fragile but clear. "Yes, I want to be her mother."
Emma clearly hadn't realized just how much Regina cared about her answer, but the smile that spread over her face at that answer was nothing short of dazzling. Emma couldn't help but smile back just as widely back.
-x-x-x-
"Mommy?" Two heads whipped to the doorway to see a little girl peering around the door frame.
Emma could only stare at the girl she now knew was her daughter, but Regina recovered much more quickly and smiled. "Hello, sweetheart. Why don't you come over?"
Instantly the girl ran over, scrambling into Regina's lap without a second thought. She twisted in her brunette mother's arms to look at Emma before looking back to Regina. She went to whisper again, but this time she wasn't as quiet and Emma could hear her. "Mommy check?"
Regina smiled down. "Yes."
"Annnd?" Sophia drew out the word and Emma smiled automatically at the cute tone.
"Yes," Regina repeated.
Instantly the girl began to climb out of Regina's lap. Emma was confused but Regina seemed to have expected it as she let go and helped the girl down. As soon as her feet were on the floor Sophia went over to where Emma was sitting. Emma pushed her chair back in surprise, turning it to face the girl better, still bewildered. Sophia halted in front of her, looking up at the blonde with beautiful brown eyes. She looked a little shy as she peered up, "Hello, Mama."
Before Emma could even respond Sophia flung herself up in Emma's arms which instinctively wrapped around her. "Hi," she said shakily. "Hi, Sophia." She couldn't stop the tears that made their way down her face as her daughter buried her face in Emma's shoulder, thin arms clasped around her neck.
After what felt like hours to her, Emma managed to bring up one hand to wipe away her tears as Sophia squirmed slightly, pulling back to get into a more comfortable position. She settled into Emma's lap, snuggling against Emma's chest, hands holding Emma's free hand. Sophia looked over at her other mother, smiled brightly and pressed against Emma contently.
Emma finished pulling herself together, though she felt better when she finally looked across the table and saw Regina's own eyes looked a little shinier than usual. "Check?" the blonde asked, remembering her daughter's words and trying to find something to distract her enough to get her emotional state under control, for all she was pretty sure it was a lost cause. What a day.
Regina cleared her throat. "Yes, I explained to her that I was almost positive you were her mother, but that I wasn't sure and had to check." The clear implication that it was part of a back-up plan for the off chance Emma had decided not to be Sophia's mother. Emma's hand tightened briefly, instinctively clutching Sophia's little hands closer at the thought of what she might have missed out on.
"Almost positive, huh?" Emma said with a wry grin. It seemed while she herself had been unsure for moment or two, Regina had known.
Regina's eyes twinkled, "Yes, well…"
"I know," Sophia spoke up. "Mommy told me all about you and I knew you were my Mama. Could tell." She seemed very proud and all knowing, clearly wondering how anyone could have doubted her.
Her mothers laughed. "I know, sweetheart. I remember. Is Henry still on the phone?"
Sophia nodded, "Uh-hu."
As if summoned, Henry walked in, still talking on the phone. "Alright, here she is," he faltered briefly, Sophia's presence finally clicking with his restored memories. Confusion filling him over who the girl that came with his mother could be and why she was now in Emma's lap. Still he shook it off, handing Regina's cell over to Emma.
"Hello?" Emma asked as Regina motioned for Sophia to come back to her so Emma could talk easier. Sophia pouted, but Regina simply gave her a stern look and she began to get down. Despite the fact that Emma felt like pouting too, she helped the girl and stood up herself, leaning back against the counter as she watched Henry sit in the chair next to his mom. He moved the chair so close to hers, they were touching. Regina quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Henry closed his eyes as he leaned his head down on her shoulder as a cheerful Sophia manage to sprawl herself across both of their laps, casing identical smiles.
"Emma?" Snow's hopeful voice cut through the warm feelings spreading through her at the sight of her family and she felt herself smile, she had parents again. "Hey, mom."
-x-x-x-
Q&A
"So…" Henry said, his eyes moving back and forth between Sophia and Regina. "Who…? How…?"
Regina opened her mouth to explain but Sophia beat her to it. The little girl managed to look just like Regina when she was displeased with someone who she suspected of being purposely slow. "Silly," she said shaking her head. "Sister." She pointed to herself and then to Henry, "Brother." Then she smiled.
Henry automatically smiled back before her words clicked in his brain. "What? Really?" he looked to Regina.
Regina nodded. "Sophia is my daughter and your sister." Henry blinked as he stared at the pair next to him, clearly the idea of his mother having another child or himself gaining siblings had never entered his mind.
"Who's her dad? Do you have a boyfriend now? Gram didn't say anything like that." She had told him about the time gap, given an overview of what had gone on in the Enchanted Forest, explaining that he now had an uncle, but she hadn't said anything about a sister—which seemed pretty important to leave out now that he thought about it.
Regina's lips thinned as she pressed them together, "Yes, well…" She sighed, "That would be because your grandmother has never met Sophia and doesn't know about her." Henry gaped at his mother. How had she managed to hide the fact that she had a daughter from everyone? "The reason for that has to do with your other question." She hesitated, looking over at Emma. The blonde was clearly listening to her mother blather on about who knows what, but she seemed to be aware of the brunettes' conversation too.
She saw the question in Regina's eyes and nodded her consent. Regina nodded back as Henry continued to frown, having seen his mothers' silent communication and made more confused by it. "Sophia doesn't have a father, her other parent is Emma."
"What?"
Regina almost wanted to laugh at the completely bewildered look on Henry's face, he hadn't looked that confused since he was little. Sophia evidently agreed that he looked silly because she giggled and said, in tone that implied the answer should be obvious, "Magic."
"But… But… you haven't even seen Ma since before the second curse!"
"I know. It turned out to be a repercussion of when we stopped the trigger and therefore," Some of Henry's confusion was clearing and he was following her explanation now, "I was already pregnant when we separated, even if I hadn't known it at the time."
"But why keep her a secret?" Henry asked with a glance to the girl who was contentedly drawing in a small notebook with a crayon while seated in Regina's lap.
Emma took that moment to say goodbye to her mother and walk back over to the table. She sat down, a bit heavily. "I'm pretty interested in hearing that reason too. Because Snow definitely has no idea about her, never mind my involvement."
Regina sighed, "Sophia?"
"Mommy?" she replied, not looking up from her drawing.
"I need to talk to Mama and Henry about grown up stuff for a few minutes." Henry turned to Emma at the casual use of "Mama" by his brunette mother. Emma looked surprisingly touched and a bit overwhelmed at how normal Regina had managed to make it sound.
Sophia looked up, "Boring?"
"Yes," Regina said, a small smile on her face, "I'm afraid so."
Sophia pouted, "Have to?"
"Yes, but how about this? You go into the living room and draw us each a pretty picture. That way once all the boring talk is over we have something fun to look at and they can see how talented an artist you are."
Sophia's eyes lit up. "Okay!" She scrambled down once more, gave a big grin and then ran off with the notepad and baggy of crayons.
Regina watched her daughter go with a fond smile before turning back to the two remaining, confused, members of her family. She heaved a small sigh, "I did not want to discuss this in front of Sophia, although she is vaguely aware that she is somewhat of a secret, she's really too young to understand. There are only three people outside of our family who know about Sophia. Miss Lucas, Widow Lucas, and Tinker Bell."
"And no one else knows about her?" Henry asked.
"At all?" Emma chimed in, skeptical.
Regina nodded, "Technically, a few of the women who ran the castle nursery know Sophia but have no idea who her parents are. I had to leave her in their care when we went to battle and the three I mentioned were needed at those times as well and so they couldn't watch her then."
Emma couldn't even deal with the idea of "battle" and its implication, focusing on Sophia, "But why? Why did you need to keep her a secret?"
"I… I did not want to tell your parents and they would have found out if I told anyone beyond those who needed to know. Miss Lucas found out on her own—her extra senses are harder to fool than sight alone. Tinker Bell is Sophia's fairy godmother. Widow—," at the confusion on Henry and Emma's faces she corrected herself, "Granny was informed as well, on Miss Lucas's urgings, to help out. All were bound to secrecy."
"I was…concerned that they would discover her heritage and try to take her from me," Regina admitted. "Even if they weren't able to find out you were her other mother, I thought they might try to take her 'for her own' good or some other such nonsense to do with me being an unfit parent in their minds." She couldn't seem to resist adding, "Despite the fact that at that time, I was the only one who had actually cared for a child for more than a few hours at a time."
Henry frowned as he thought this over but Emma spoke up, "I don't know about that, I mean, you really think they would do that? And how would they even figure out Sophia was mine too? I mean, it's not exactly something they would expect, right?"
Regina bit back her initial response regarding the golden couple's behavior, and the one after that, before focusing on the other questions. "The timing would be suspect enough, too close to when we were all in Neverland for them not to be curious about the child's parentage. It's not as though I could name anyone who then wouldn't subsequently expect to be involved in her life or at the very least be able to dispute my claim."
Emma thought that over and realized the only person Regina could shift the blame to who also wouldn't have been around to reveal the truth was Gold and nope, not even going there, so she nodded to show she was following along.
"And they could simply have Blue do a spell to find out who the child's other parent was. In fact, even if I refused to tell them, they could choose to do so anyway, reasoning to themselves that whoever it was deserved to know about the child or some other similar good reason."
"I still thinking taking a kid, a baby, away from its mom is a pretty extreme reaction for anyone," Emma said, a fragile look on her face as her real memory of watching them take Henry away came to mind.
Regina didn't want to push, but she still felt she had to make her point, "You don't think that your parents wouldn't do anything to keep another of their grandchildren from being raised by the Evil Queen? Especially without you there? That they wouldn't have been able to come up with a dozen reasons to justify such an action?"
Emma exchanged a glance with Henry and both came to the obvious conclusion. Yes, they would.
Regina nodded, "Therefore, in order to not have her taken from me, or at the very least prevent an unnecessary fight, I kept her existence a secret. Some days were harder than others, but since I lived by myself in a house a good distance from the main castle and no one ever wanted to visit me," she shrugged, "It wasn't too difficult. Miss Lucas only found out because she had been appointed their…liaison with me in regards to plans, magic and the like. We preferred to deal directly with each other as little as possible."
"But…" Henry frowned, "Wasn't it hard? Having to take care of a baby all by yourself?"
Regina furrowed her brows. "I'd already had practice," she reminded him. "What I lacked in modern convenience, I made up for with magic. In some ways it was easier because I did not have to balance my nine-to-five mayoral job—it didn't matter that my "working" hours became rather…haphazard when she was a baby. Besides, Sophia was able to be quiet for longer periods of time than you ever were." Henry looked embarrassed at the mention of him as a baby and Regina smiled. "Although when she did want to move, there was nothing that would get in her way. You were both good babies in the end though."
The memories Emma had been given were already fading slightly, obvious fabrications and yet, altered as they were now, she could tell they were in some sense real. They were Regina's. Regina had actually given her her own memories of Henry? She stared at the brunette in surprise.
Henry looked thoughtful, his curse memories kicking back in and reminding him of the realities of single parenthood. "I guess." Mainly though, he wanted to get off the topic of him as a baby and the fact that now both his moms knew embarrassing stories about him. "So how'd you get back? Gram wasn't really clear about that."
Regina began a long explanation about the way she had adapted the curse that Henry found fascinating. Emma was interested too, but mainly used the time to readjust to herself. By the time she felt as close to normal as she was going to for a little while, it was time to heat up Regina's lasagna for supper. Sophia came into the room as soon as the smell began to fill the air and presented them all with their pictures. The family spent the rest of the evening as normally as possible, watching TV and catching up. Regina was just as interested as they were in what had happened with Emma and Henry, and Sophia was quick to chime in with stories of her own.
Finally, early for Henry, but on the late side for Sophia, they decided to send the kids to bed and turn in themselves. It had been a very long day. Henry was more than happy to have Sophia sleepover with him, something even the tired little girl found very exciting. Emma volunteered to take the couch and give Regina her room, for all that Regina gave a token protest that her and Sophia had a whole apartment upstairs to themselves, no one actually wanted to be separated for the night and she gave in quickly.
-x-x-x-
Nighttime Clarity
Emma returned to her room after changing into her black tank top and flannel pants, as she had offered it to Regina to change while she straightened up the mess the kids had left behind in the bathroom. She knocked on the door and turned the knob when Regina gave the okay. She came in, spying Regina looking out the window in a silk pajama set. Emma dropped her clothes into her hamper before sitting down heavily on her bed. She closed her eyes, still trying to find normalcy after everything that had happened when something occurred to her, "You're the reason we have this great place, aren't you?"
Emma's arm was over her eyes, but she didn't need to see Regina's nod. "Yes, when the first curse broke, I transferred a number of funds that had been in my name, to Henry's and yours. In case… In case."
Emma nodded. "I don't know why I never questioned it. Things I remember, things that had to do with Henry, that really didn't make sense. That couldn't have happened if it was the two of us."
Regina turned around, her eyes wary for Emma's reaction. Emma looked up, sensing her gaze and patted the bed next to her. Regina glanced around once, but there really wasn't anywhere else to sit. She didn't want to crowd Emma, but the blonde was offering.
Regina sat, "I could have given you memories that fit more with what would likely have happened if you hadn't given him up, but I didn't want to change Henry. It was selfish, but I wanted some part of him to still be my little boy. So I gave you my memories with a filter, one that made them a bit hazy and made you not want to question them, not think to question them."
"I don't mind," Emma admitted. "I'm glad Henry was still himself. And, to be honest, it almost makes it more real. I can't believe you actually shared your memories of him with me. I feel better actually knowing what I remember was real instead of more false memories, what actually happened instead of what if's. You made sure our future was real, and in a way, keeping Henry's childhood as close to what it was as possible, made our past a bit more real too. One set of false memories instead of two."
The couple sat in silence, but it was a comfortable one as each took the time they needed to sort out their thoughts. "I can't imagine how finding out you were pregnant by magic, or whatever even happened, went."
Regina chuckled lightly, "Yes, well. I admit it was a unique experience. I thought I was just sick, although I didn't have much morning sickness—just headaches and magic flare-ups mostly. Those were easily attributable to other things, such as emotional instability and insomnia. I didn't realize something else might be wrong until one day when I did get sick and realized I was showing slightly."
Emma furrowed her brow, recalling her own experiences, "You didn't realize until you were showing? Geez, but what about…I mean, didn't you realize something wasn't coming each month?"
Regina pressed her lips together, "Another reason I never suspected anything along those lines is because, aside from Sophia, I am unable to have children. My monthlies stopped when I was about twenty after my third miscarriage."
Emma stared at her in shock, "Oh god." Just because Emma hadn't really ever planned on getting pregnant in the first place, let alone again after the first time, didn't mean she wanted to have the decision taken away from her. Even when she had known she wasn't going to keep her baby, the idea of a miscarriage was horrifying to her. She couldn't imagine going through that once, let alone three times.
Regina's mask was firmly in place and she didn't move her gaze from the wall but she attempted a small, ironic, smile, "Come dear, didn't you ever wonder why I adopted instead of some other method? A method that would have made my right to him even more sound? It wasn't the only reason, but the fact that all other methods of having a child were impossible…"
Emma nodded, because she had. It was something she'd always wondered about—still a shock though. It made Sophia even more of a miracle.
Regina pushed ahead as it was obvious she did not want to dwell on this topic, "That, coupled with the fact that the other normal requirement for conceiving had not been met for months, made it obvious that her origin was magical in nature. A simple test confirmed my suspicions about who the other parent was."
"Is this something that happens often in the Enchanted Forest? Two people of the same sex magically making a kid without…" She coughed, her face flushing slightly.
Regina smirked at her embarrassment but did not call her on it. "Not particularly, but it is known to be a possibility. It can only happen this way with two women, both who are normally magical, and the child is always a girl as well. However," Emma perked up at that, wanting to know what else made their daughter so special. "As I said before, significantly more intent normally needs to be present. Both women must want a child and will for it to happen, and normally sex is a part of it. Although, I suppose its not usually attempted without that part—two women wouldn't normally want to have a child together if they weren't in some sort of romantic relationship."
Emma was still trying to avoid that line of thinking, "So it's not normally an accident then."
"Correct," Regina confirmed, "But your magic is due to you being the product of true love and combining our magic to stop the trigger was a very unique situation. I should have expected a side effect of some sort."
"How come I didn't get pregnant instead?" Emma asked. "Or both of us?"
Regina pursed her lips as she considered it, "For the same reason most likely. Stopping the trigger did not require all of your magic and all of my magic. So it took it all in and sent back out whatever wasn't needed any longer. Since I had been….feeding it the longest, what it sent out was mostly your magic. Your own magic wouldn't have had any sort of dramatic effect on you, aside from perhaps making you feel better after pushing it all into the gem."
She met Emma's eyes, a look of disapproval on her face, "I never got the chance to mention it, but you shoved far too much of your magic far too quickly into the trigger. You're lucky it didn't shatter and that the resulting shockwave didn't injure anyone."
Emma rolled her eyes, "Right 'cause there'd been so much time to think and I'd had so much magic training."
Regina scowled and humphed. "I suppose you didn't know any better." Then, almost to herself, the older woman muttered, "I feel like that's how it's been ever since you showed up—you turning everything on its head, by accident."
The blonde grinned foolishly and Regina rolled her eyes before Emma sobered. "Sorry you had to the pregnancy stuff on your own. Oh, and that you had to do it in like, the medieval times," her nose crinkled at the thought. No hospitals or doctors or drugs.
Regina smirked, "Yes, well, magic helped quite a lot and Wi-Granny helped with the actual birth. Tink, being a fairy, had no idea what was going on and Miss Lucas was too disturbed by the whole process to be of much use beyond fetching things for us."
Emma laughed at that, "Yes, Ruby's not big on blood and I'd probably be freaked out too if I hadn't already done it. Glad it all worked out, even with you guys being in the Stone Age. I can't even imagine dealing with a baby without like, diapers."
"Magic, dear," Regina supplied helpfully.
"And I bet you helped out my mom with her kid, magically and all, right?" the sarcasm in her voice obvious.
Regina flapped a hand, "Please, the princess had dozens of servants to jumping at the chance to tend to her little spawn. She certainly didn't need my help."
The glint in her brown eyes told Emma she was teasing. "What's he like?" She had meant to sound only curious but there was a cautious note she hadn't been able to help.
Regina regarded her closely and Emma could tell the older woman knew how conflicted she felt about her long-lost parents having a new child. "He's not a replacement for you." Emma looked down at that, so Regina followed her cue and acted as though this topic didn't bother the other woman. "Honestly, I haven't spent much time around him, but Steven seems like a nice little boy, not as smart as our Sophia though."
Emma automatically smiled at the mention of their daughter and how easily Regina seemed to use 'our' when it came to her. Though it reminded her of something else that had been bothering her and in her rush to get away from the current uncomfortable topic, she blurted out, "How come you're being so… different about Sophia?"
Regina lifted an eyebrow in a silent question.
"Here's the thing," Emma elaborated, "With Henry, in the beginning, you did everything you could to keep me out of his life, or at least you didn't want me in it. But with Sophia, you told me about her and how she was my daughter as soon as it would have made any sense to me when you could have, if you wanted to, never told me and I never would have even suspected a thing. You seem to want me in her life. I don't…" She looked down at her lap, frustrated with her inability to understand. "You could have told me you had a one night stand with some guy and that's how you got her or anything really and I never would have questioned it."
"It's because the situations are completely different." Regina didn't need to look to see Emma's confused expression. She inwardly sighed, wondering why no one ever understood. "With Henry, I was his mother, his only mother. You signed a closed adoption and I raised him for years and I know that no one wants to acknowledge that fact, but to me that made you as entitled to him as a stranger, or at least only slightly more entitled."
"Now, I shouldn't have tried to drive you away because if Henry wanted you in his life, I should have respected that and done what made him happy, but it never would be due to that fact that you earned that right nor deserved it. Not without having to do anything to get it."
"Obviously," she continued, not wanting Emma to get the wrong impression. "Since then you have earned such a place in his life, even more so with this past year and I would never try to take that from you now, but back then…" She trailed off, mind lost in those painful days, where Henry was constantly hostile and she was constantly drowning. She had fallen back on her old, ingrained coping mechanisms and forged that despair into rage, rage at the easiest target.
"You must understand how much pain you caused me in the beginning. Henry had been pulling away from me for months before you came, when before he'd never been mad at me for more than a few hours. And then he finds some stranger who he claims is his "real" mother, as if I was nothing but a placeholder, as if I meant nothing to him at all when I was his mother. And he gave all his love and attention and respect to you, someone who had given him away and had no right…" Her voice broke off and Emma was too caught up in the words spilling from Regina's lips to say anything. She took a deep breath, "It was easy, to turn all my rage and frustration onto you."
The more Emma thought about it, the more she could see Regina's side. See the truth. She had been so concerned with Henry's happiness, with the fear of his fixation on fairytales that she forgot she truly had given up the right to be worried. Regina had made it so easy though, so easy to justify sticking around and meddling in Henry's life. So easy to convince herself the beautiful brunette must have something to hide. Her constant aggression, the way she kept trying to order Emma to leave, the challenge. Emma had stayed for so many reasons, but mostly because Regina had tried so hard to drive her off. She'd always been told she had problems with authority.
She was struck by the sudden thought that even if Regina hadn't remembered her fairytale life, but the curse had left her personality more or less intact, Regina would have acted the exact same way. Her defensiveness really had been just that—defense against the perceived assault that was apparently Emma's mere presence. Seems self-destruction was yet another thing they had in common.
And while Emma was glad she had stayed, she found she wished it had been for more noble reasons. She wished she'd stayed because of the easy friendship she'd found, for the kid she'd given up. Honestly though, those things had scared her more than they had enticed her to stay. Ironic how all of Regina's attempts to get rid of her, were really the tipping point to her staying.
She was getting distracted though, "And with Sophia?"
Regina took another deep breath, clearly having trouble with so much honesty, but her eyes still lit up as she talked about her daughter, their daughter, just as they did with Henry. "Sophia is a miracle and she is our miracle. You had absolutely no choice in not being her life, not being able to make that choice is what is different." Her voice was firm, absolute in her conviction, "You didn't know it was a possibility at all—I didn't even think it was."
They were both staring at the wall in front of them, finding it easier to talk that way, less pressure. All the better to pretend this wasn't one of the most significant conversations they'd ever had. "Sophia is not the child that you had in a difficult situation and choose to send away so that they would have the best chance of a stable and happy life and then tried to take back when you felt you were ready with no regard to the mother who had put in the time and effort and love. Sophia is the daughter you never even knew was possible and you deserve the chance to be there for her."
Emma disagreed slightly, as at the time she had shown up she hadn't wanted to be Henry's mother, not exactly. She wasn't sure what she had wanted then. But phrased that way, she could see Regina's point. She frowned in concentration. "What about Neal? You don't want him in Henry's life and he hadn't known about him either."
Regina made a face that revealed her distaste, "Mr. Cassidy did make a choice." Her voice once more left no room for argument, stubborn to a fault. The level of her underlying anger was more than apparent and it was only after knowing her as well as she did that could Emma detect the hint of defensiveness in her tone as well, "He choose to betray you on the word of a stranger, out of fear. He gave up his right to Henry the second he set you up to take the fall for him. When he abandoned you, he relinquished any claim to anything good you could bring him—and Henry is most certainly that. He obviously never even checked up on you. He made his choice."
"And just as with my treatment of you with regards to your initial relationship with Henry, it has absolutely nothing to do with nor anything in common with your relationship with Sophia."
Emma nodded this time as Regina spoke, because it was what she herself had felt with it came to Neal, but not known how to say. Funny how only the 'Evil Queen' seemed to get why she didn't want anything to do with her ex-fiancé. The only reason she had let him near Henry was because Henry wanted to know him. Even then she'd only done so grudgingly and with great misgivings. That was one of the big role reversals that had truly made her appreciate Regina's side of all of this.
Another was having taken care of Henry these past few months. There's knowing that being a parent is a full-time job and there's knowing—and thinking and being. With only these past few months she was surprised, even with her correct memories restored, the brief flare-ups of jealousy and protectiveness and possessiveness that had sprung up this evening about Henry toward Regina. They were short and easily reasoned away, but now she could begin to understand how Regina had felt when Emma had first shown up. It didn't really fully count as understanding, because a lot of her feelings had to do with the fact that her memories weren't hers and Regina had gotten to live them with their son while she hadn't. She didn't think she'd ever stop grieving all the time she had missed with him. The, now rather faded, memories were bittersweet—better than nothing, but tinted with sadness since she'd never made them herself.
At least she would miss less with Sophia. She would get to do things for real this time. How was this going to work though? Would they all… live together? She couldn't imagine not living with Henry anymore and she wanted to live with Sophia (she wanted to live with Regina as well). She certainly wasn't going back to living with her parents in that little apartment. Did Regina want that though?
"How involved can I be in Sophia's life?" She felt a pang of regret when she realized she'd never even asked that question with Henry, for all Regina had given her an answer—she just hadn't respected it. Regina turned, frowning at her. "I mean, you said I could be her mom, but what does that mean?"
Regina still looked mildly puzzled, "It means exactly that."
Emma made a frustrated noise, "Like, I assume she lives with you, obviously, and Henry will now too and I…" Where will I fit in? remained unspoken.
She could see the moment that it clicked for Regina. To the blonde's great surprise, Regina blushed lightly. It was slight, and if they hadn't been sitting so close she probably wouldn't have been able to tell. I hadn't even known Regina could do that, Emma thought, oddly fascinated. (Part of her mind drifted on a tangent on how else she could get the brunette to do it again before it was ruthlessly crushed.)
"I," Regina paused, "I do want them to live with me and I assumed you would want to live with them as well, and while we could work out some sort of shared custody arrangement, I had," hoped, she thought, "the idea it might be preferable for you to live at my house. I have a number of guest rooms and even a finished basement that could be adapted if you preferred—with magic very little isn't a possibility. An addition could be possible to pull together in a few days if it was needed."
Emma stared at the other woman, "You'd let me do that?"
Regina simply nodded, "Of course, as I said, you deserve to fully participate in our children's lives and my house makes the most sense for us to live in, again, unless you'd prefer some sort of part time arrangement."
It was obvious which option Regina preferred, and Emma agreed with her, she just hadn't thought Regina would. Now more than ever though she knew how important a stable home was, her old guilt about taking Henry from his home to stick him in that apartment, her fake guilt from her memories about them moving around a lot, and even now just from their moving to New York and her promising herself they would stay so her son could have a home. "I think all four of us in the mansion makes the most sense," she agreed, "But are you sure you won't mind?"
Regina brushed her off, "I wouldn't have offered if I minded, dear."
Emma narrowed her eyes, "Yes, you would have. If it meant you had Henry home with you again, you'd put up with anything."
Regina glared at her, but it lacked the heat of anger. Finally, when all Emma did in response was smile cheesily, she rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Fine. I would have. However, I do not mind." Emma just raised an eyebrow. "Honestly," Regina said with a small scowl at having to repeat herself. "I suppose we'll have to actually try it out to be sure—and you will be doing your fair share of housework—but I wouldn't mind having someone else to help with both children. And I'm sure any bad habits you have, you can be trained out of," she added with a smirk.
"Hey!"
Regina shrugged, "You asked for the truth, dear."
Emma grumbled, but she had brought that upon herself. Unfortunately, with this problem resolved and everything else discussed throughout the afternoon and evening with Henry, and to a lesser extent Sophia, that left only one burning idea in her mind.
Sure, Emma had known before that they made some pretty cool magic together, but it had been something she'd shoved to the back of her mind because really everything was so overwhelming and magic was something she could barely wrap her head around even without all the emotional turmoil. Now though, the few months away from everything and living a normal life, had surprisingly given her a welcome break in a way and so some of her thoughts were a lot clearer. Taking a step back, even without realizing it, was very helpful.
Now she suspected that there was even more to the implications of her magic than she'd vaguely realized. After all that trigger was supposed to unstoppable and then there was that eclipse—she bet even that stupid hat that had sent her and Mary-Snow back to the middle ages was because of their combined magic. For the thousandth time she found herself cursing her lack of knowledge about everything, especially magic.
Her eyes darted over to Regina, who appeared to be staring ahead again, lost in her own thoughts. Regina knew all about magic, but did she think… Did she suspect what Emma was beginning to? After all, even Emma's denial wasn't so strong she can hold onto it while reality smacks her in the face repeatedly. Reality which seemed to think they're true loves.
Facing her emotions wasn't something Emma was in a habit of doing either, but at least it was more familiar than magic. Her feelings toward Regina had always been complicated and that certainly hadn't changed, nor did she think that it would change.
She started off easy, did she find Regina attractive? She nearly snorted at herself because that wasn't even something that needed admitting too. Of course she did, she had since she first laid eyes on the beautiful woman and no amount of arguing had ever been able to make her stop. If anything, she sometimes she felt herself wanting Regina more after one of their arguments. Still, she wasn't sure if she had had actual romantic feelings for her then and that was partially due to her inability to deal with things like that and one other big factor: her utter certainty that Regina would never think of her that way, want her that way. It wasn't necessarily a depressing thought, it just seemed to be an obvious fact, and so Emma had never given much thought to anything along those lines.
Regina certainly was her type, Emma thought wryly. Brunette, private, confident, damaged. Older, unavailable, the passion below the surface that she couldn't resist. Someone she thought she could rely on, someone she felt she knew where she stood, on things and with her. Not afraid to speak her mind, no sugar coating. A past as complex and painful as her own, more than her own.
She had wanted her son to have a mother who thought he was the world and could give it to him and, low and behold, he had gotten that. The question was, was there room in his mother's heart for someone else? She'd always thought no, not for anyone. But could she have been wrong? Could there be room for her?
She thought back to Neverland and how horrible she felt the whole time. Between her parents expectations and relentless optimism, the sudden confrontation of pieces of her past, Hook's constant innuendo, finding Neal, and then the tug of war between the two of them… She had thought, on more than one occasion, how much simpler this would be if it was just her and Regina. More than once, she had felt Regina agreed with her. In fact, Regina had probably wished none of them had come, especially since aside from the eclipse thing, Regina, with help from Gold, was the one who had really saved their son.
It was funny, but all the others: her parents, Hook, Neal, all of those people who talked so much about how much she meant to them, often didn't act like it. They couldn't make up their minds, was she a child to be coddled or a savior to be sacrificed and a number of other contradictory things—none of which were actually her. Regina was the opposite, hating her with her words and then doing things like saving her. Regina was the one who had been on the same wavelength as her (saving Henry). Regina who might criticize and snark, but seemed to be the only one who actually listened to her and what she wanted. The one who actually seemed to see her, to know her.
She thought back to that last day in Storybrooke. The way Regina had looked and acted. What she did for Henry and Emma. What she did for Emma in particular because Emma already knew Regina would do anything for her son. She had let Emma take him, trusted her with Henry and that… That definitely said something. The memories too, now that Emma could see them for what they were, too real and genuine—were Regina's. Regina had given Emma her memories of Henry. The look in her eyes as she explained what she was doing. Emma's name on her lips when she woke from the ground after learning what the spell would cost.
"I had just assumed…" Emma paused and took a deep breath, "Your price…for setting the new curse… it wasn't just saying goodbye to Henry, was it?"
Regina could tell Emma wasn't really asking, but she answered her anyway, "No, it wasn't."
"Was I involved in any way?" she kept her voice purposefully light, slightly teasing.
"Perhaps." Inwardly, Regina was panicking. She didn't know how to do this part. She didn't know how to do anything relationship wise that wasn't yearning from afar and torturing herself over the fact that she couldn't be with who she loved. Yet here she was, sitting next to Emma, Henry just down that hall asleep with Sophia—everything she wanted. Emma certainly wasn't helping, her tone too casual for Regina to properly gauge what the blonde was feeling, but the absence of telling Regina to get out and the way she had actually listened to Regina's explanations of her views seemed rather suggestive.
Unlike others in Emma's past, unlike anyone since ten years ago Neal, Regina was someone she could see a future with, one she knew she would have a future with. The future she had always craved: an equal, someone to have her back, someone who saw her as she truly was, a family, and a home. Emma had always been a runner, leaving before she got hurt, again. Regina had always been a fighter, lashing out at the world and desperately going after what she wanted. For just this once though, it looked like their positions were reversed. For once, Regina was holding back and Emma was going to have to reach out.
Emma took a deep breath, turning to face the petrified brunette next to her. "Regina…"
Something in her voice must have been enough to compel the older woman to turn slightly, brown eyes meeting green-blue. Regina's eyes had always given the most clues as to what she was feeling, once you learned to try to read them. Now, they told Emma all she needed to know and gave her the final burst of bravado she needed.
Emma reached a hand up, cupping Regina's face carefully before her lips covered full red ones. Emma wasn't sure what she expected, because part of her was still convinced there was no way Regina actually had feelings for her, but the way Regina automatically leaned into the kiss still managed to catch her off guard. The older woman's lips were just as soft and warm as before although now she could truly enjoy them, knowing exactly who she was kissing and with no sudden onslaught of repressed memories. Emma opened her mouth slightly, but the kiss stayed relatively simple, as if both were still making sure this wasn't a dream.
They pulled back slightly and half-lidded eyes met. There was only time for each to take a breath and the next instant their lips were fused together once more. Where the previous kiss had been short and gentle, this one was anything but. Heated mouths opened almost instantly, allowing warm tongues to brush against each other. Someone let out a quiet moan that was answered by a pleased hum as pleasure began to spread through them.
One of Emma's hands continued to gently cup Regina's cheek while the other snaked around her back, pulling her closer. Regina leaned into the motion, one hand weaving itself into the blonde's curls, which were as soft and silky as she had imagined. The brunette pressed against the blonde urgently as Emma eagerly responded. Every point they touched woke all their nerve endings, blinding them to anything else that might have been going on.
After a few moments that felt like blissful hours, Regina's mind caught up fully to the reality of what was happening and what it meant. She struggled with the one strand of self-control the blonde had not yet broken with her addictive kisses. She push on Emma's shoulders and their lips parted with a delicious sound that only made Regina want to lean back in.
"Emma…" Regina's voice was breathy as she tried to hang onto what was left of her clear headed thinking. "You must be sure." Despite her obvious desire to continue what they were doing, her tone conveyed how serious she was, even if she doubted her own ability to actually pull away if Emma changed her mind. She needed the blonde to be sure though, needed her to say it, what she was getting into and what this kiss, these kisses meant.. Because now that this was happening, it all seemed to be going so fast and she needed something solid to hang onto and assure her it wouldn't all disappear just as fast
Emma took in Regina's lightly flushed face and dark eyes, seeing the emotions painted clearly in them. She didn't need to ask Regina to tell her own feelings because Emma had always been a person of action and Regina's actions were more than enough to communicate Emma what the older woman felt. "I am," Emma replied confidently, in fact it was the most sure of anything she'd been in a long time. She smiled as she leaned back into the next kiss, "I love you too."
-x-x-x-
"When we get back, you totally wanna make out in front of my parents, don't you?"
"Perhaps."
-/-
A/N: There we go. Sorry ti took me a few days to post the final part, but I decided to take a break from intense study time and remembered I hadn't put this up yet so here it is. I am seriously considering posting a one-shot sequel that deals with a few people finding out about them being together (Snow and David, Neal) and Sophia etc, but I have no idea when that might be done.
Thanks again to btvsobsessed623 for being my beta and chocolate-cream-soldier for making my beautiful cover art. and of course thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed.
Hope you liked it!
