Emma took her lunch break and stopped in at Granny's for a bite. Ruby took her lunch break at the same time in order to sit with her.

"You've looked better," Ruby said. "Still having issues with Henry?"

"I don't know what's gotten into him. It's been this way for a month now. Those two weekends I had him in a row, he was moping the whole time. And when he isn't moping he is texting on his phone to Regina. Then Wednesdays or her weekends come around and I can't get that kid there fast enough to suit him. And then this past weekend it was mope city again."

"Have you spoken with Regina about it?"

"No. But I was thinking of pulling her aside at city council tonight and asking her."

"I heard she has missed a few days in the office in the last couple of weeks. Her secretary was in here last week and said Regina missed two days in a row with the flu."

"Henry never said anything," Emma said. "He doesn't say much about anything, but he especially doesn't say much about Regina beyond wanting to see her. He denied it but I think he is bothered by Killian being around so much and maybe he is using Regina's as a refuge from it."

"You have said Killian is around too much," Ruby said.

"I know," Emma sighed. "Maybe I should talk to him about giving Henry a little breathing room."

"It's not just Henry that needs it."

"I suppose not."

Emma got to the city council meeting that night but when she didn't see Regina in her seat, she wondered where she was at. Regina didn't miss city council meetings. She had left Henry at her mom's for the evening. Her dad was now on city council and when she motioned to him about Regina's empty seat he gave her a shrug to indicate he didn't know.

The council meeting went on and Regina didn't even show up late.

"We have one more late agenda item to attend to," the city council president said, standing up and passing out a paper to all the council members. "Our mayor Regina Mills gave me this letter of resignation late today. You can read it for yourselves, but basically she is resigning effective immediately for personal reasons. She will however stay on in a part-time interim basis at no cost to the city due to the last-minute nature of the resignation until such as time as someone is appointed to the position. So we need a motion to accept the resignation."

"Wait," Charming said. "That's it. She's just resigning with no explanation. Did she say anything beyond what's in the letter?"

"Only that it was her honor to serve as mayor and she had full confidence in our ability to handle the situation."

Emma wanted to stand up and ask what kind of bullshit this was. Regina quitting. It didn't make any sense. Her dad looked at her, but this time it was her turn to shrug.

"I'm not sure we should vote to accept this resignation until we hear from her directly," Charming said. There were other mutterings of agreement as no one seemed to know what was going on.

After the meeting, where they tabled Regina's resignation for further discussion, Emma went straight to her parent's house. Her father was right behind her as she entered and went straight over to Henry.

"Spill it. What is going on with Regina?"

"What do you mean?"

"She just resigned as mayor."

"She did what?" Snow asked. Charming handed her the copy of the resignation letter.

"What is going on Henry?" Emma asked again. "Either tell me or I am driving straight to her house to ask her myself."

"She isn't there," Henry said.

"Where is she then?"

"She's in Boston. She left a couple of hours ago."

"Why did she go to Boston?"

Regina had told Henry that after tonight it would no longer matter – the secret couldn't be kept a secret now. She had progressed past a basic treatment regiment.

"She went to get a stem cell treatment at a hospital there."

"Stem cells?" Snow asked. "What would she need a stem cell treatment for?"

"Mom has cancer."