Chapter 6

Henry looked from Regina to Emma and back again expectantly.

"You guys seem tense," he noted curiously, "Am I in trouble?"

Regina's expression softened, "No, Henry, you're not in trouble at all. We just have something we need to talk to you about."

He looked back at them, blinking innocently, "Is it something bad?"

Emma shook her head, "No, kid, I don't think it's bad. Well, I think it's good, actually. Really good," she smiled, "It's just a bit weird."

Regina glared at her pointedly, "Weird?"

"No, not weird," Emma rushed, "I mean, probably like unexpected."

"I'm confused, just tell me," Henry prompted, squinting at his mothers' in confusion.

"Well, um, you know we've been spending a lot of time here, right?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Henry nodded, "We're here all the time."

"And…that's been good, right?" Emma asked nervously.

Henry nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, it's been fun. You guys haven't even been fighting or anything, which is nice too."

Regina smiled, "So, how would you feel if you two were to move in…a little more permanently?"

Henry looked surprised, "Really? So we'll all live here together?"

Regina nodded, "Would you like that?" she asked, a little nervously.

"Sure," Henry responded, "I mean, it's way better here anyway. Grandpa's is nice but it's kind of small and this place is huge, and I like that you guys are friends now."

Emma looked at Regina anxiously.

"Well…" Regina started, clearing her throat, "What if…" she cleared her throat again, "What if Emma and I were more than friends?"

Henry tilted his head and squinted again, "Do you love each other?" he asked lightly.

Emma jumped in to take over, "Yes," she smiled, "We love each other very much. I know this might seem kind of out of nowhere but – "

"Not really," Henry claimed as he shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm a kid but I'm not stupid. I always hear you sneak into mom's room when you think I'm asleep and I saw you curled up on the couch the other night when I came to get a drink," he shrugged, "I think it's cool."

"You do?" Regina asked curiously.

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I mean, the saviour and the evil queen. But you're not evil anymore, but it's like a story, right? The saviour saving the queen from darkness. That's what mom has been doing since she got here," he looked at Emma, "You always believed in her, even when nobody else did. You used your magic together to save the town. I mean, it's the whole opposite's attract, light and dark. It's my own fairy tale," he finished, smiling somewhat smugly.

Regina blinked at this description of her relationship with Emma, thinking how accurate that really did sound. She took Emma's hand, squeezing it.

"I don't know that I'm saving anyone, kid," Emma responded lightly, squeezing Regina's hand back, noting her tension, "But we're glad you're happy."

Henry nodded, "I should get to school," he said, looking at the clock.

"Yeah, you should, do you want us to walk you?" Emma asked, still a tight grip on the other woman's hand.

"Nope," Henry swung his back pack on, "I'm walking with Grace."

Emma smiled, "Alright, see you kid," she kissed him on the head before he went on to give his other mom a hug, Emma waited until he left before she turned to Regina, "You okay?"

Regina looked at her distractedly, "Yeah, sure," she nodded.

"Babe, what is it?" Emma asked.

Regina looked at her with wide eyes, "It's just so true, isn't it? The saviour saving the queen from her darkness…"

Emma bit her lip, "I don't know about that," she murmured.

"You're my saviour," Regina whispered before moving closer to Emma and kissing her passionately, "I love you."

"Bipolar," Regina wrapped her mouth around the word slowly before sighing, "And new medication," she turned the box over in her hands, placing it on the table before collapsing into the couch, "I don't know."

Emma sat beside her and squeezed the woman's hand, "You don't understand? Maybe we can get the doctor to – "

"No," Regina shook her head, "I understand. The up's, the down's, from no energy to extreme adrenaline and I get how it fits my behaviour. I understand all that."

Emma nodded, "I think it does too…and now that they have a better idea of what you're experiencing, hopefully this medication can help even out your moods."

"And then?" Regina asked.

"What do you mean?" Emma frowned.

"I mean… I feel like I'm losing who I am. I mean, the evil queen, the mayor, Henry's mother, some diagnosis… I don't know. And those anti-depressants made me feel so strange, now these mood stabilisers… I just want to be me. But I don't even know who that is anymore," Regina finished, sighing heavily.

Emma looked at the other woman sympathetically and took her hands in her own, "You're Regina Mills. You're the mayor and you're Henry's amazing mother. You're my beautiful girlfriend," she squeezed Regina's hands, "You're an incredible woman. This diagnosis? It's not who you are, it's just an illness we have to fight, together. It's such a small part… It's just that at the moment, it's not controlled, but it will be. We just have to learn how to best handle it."

Regina nodded, "I know you're right. It's just…when I was the evil queen, and I know I was horrible, but at least I knew who I was. Since then, everything's been so crazy, I've tried to be a mother which has been difficult and not entirely successful, I've had this fight between good and evil going on inside me," she sighed, "I mean, in Neverland was the first time we even really got along consistently. Then, all of this…strangeness in my moods began. The only person I ever really felt confident being was… the evil queen."

It scared Emma to hear Regina speak like that, but at least she was speaking, she licked her lips nervously, "What about before you were…evil, though?"

Regina frowned, "I was just a young woman trying to please everyone else, so impressionable and my relationship with my mother… things were so complicated," she shrugged.

Emma nodded, "Well, before I got to Storybrooke, I was a pretty different person too. I mean, I've been to jail, Regina, I was a criminal. I didn't have a kingdom or anything, but," she shrugged, "We all have our demons, right? The thing about being human is, we can choose who we want to be."

Regina blinked, "You don't think…people are intrinsically evil?"

Emma shook her head, "No way, anyone can turn good. I mean, look at you and look at Rumple, even. You guys are evidence that people can change. I mean, it can be hard, obviously, but you can choose to change. And hey," she added, "It's not like you have to change completely, I bet there are good things about from when you were the evil queen."

Regina's brow furrowed, "I don't think so. I was a horrible, demanding, cruel – "

Emma sighed, "Okay…so you can be assertive, you know what you want and you go for it. That's not a bad thing, I mean you know if you lay off the killing and stuff," she smiled at the sceptical woman before her, "You ran a damn kingdom, Regina, I don't even know what that involves, but I'm gonna guess it means you got some kind of business sense."

"I suppose," Regina said slowly, still apprehensive.

"You know how to like micro manage and stuff," Emma managed, "And I know you think you were emotionless in those days, uncaring… but I think it was a defence mechanism, I think maybe sometimes you feel too much, and that means you're capable of sympathy and empathy and relating to people."

"Do you think…maybe that's why it's all coming out so crazily now?" Regina asked quietly, "Because I, maybe, supressed it for so long…"

Emma chewed on her lip, "Yeah, I think it's possible. I don't believe you were ever devoid of emotion, you just forced it away and yeah, maybe now it's spilling out."

Regina nodded, "It's scary… all this feeling. I suppose I'm not used to it. Perhaps, that is why I act out when I get emotional, I don't know. I suppose I am emotionally immature," she sighed at the admission.

"Perhaps," Emma nodded, "But I mean, it's the chemistry in your brain, you know, like Archie explained – "

"I know, I know," Regina agreed, "Science is a strange thing," she smiled, "I still don't completely understand it, but I think we have enough brochures to start a library here."

"You never talk about your mother much," Emma noted, suddenly, "I mean, I know you had a complicated relationship with her… and I know a little from what Snow's said, but I've never heard you mention her."

Regina blinked slowly, "It was a…turbulent relationship. My mother was a very confusing woman, at times I thought she loved me more than anything in the world and would do anything for me, but at other times she was extremely cold, disconnected and seemed to chase power over everything, including her daughter," she paused, lost in thought, "When she died…in my arms, she said that I would have been enough. But…I don't know that I believe that, it seems very convenient that she would say that in her dying breath."

Emma nodded, "It does… Perhaps, she didn't know how to love you, Regina. I don't know, I never knew her; I don't want to give any kind of opinion, but it seemed like she manipulated you when she needed you on side and then just tossed you aside when she didn't," she said quietly.

Regina's breath hitched for a moment, "I think that is true. I only wish I hadn't been so easy to manipulate…but I think the child, her daughter in me, still wanted her love and I was all too willing to believe that if I helped her with whatever evil scheme she was working on, that I would achieve it. That I would make her proud. Even as a grown woman, I suppose I craved that love from the woman who raised me," she shook her head, "Yet at other times, I am full of hatred for that woman; she killed Daniel, she didn't raise me in a very…kind way, nothing was ever good enough… I was never good enough."

Emma's eyes were wide, "You were good enough, she just couldn't see it," was all she could to think to say.

Regina smiled at the genuineness in the blonde's expression, "Thank you, dear. You are so sweet," she lent forward and quickly applied her lips to Emma's.

Emma smiled back as she pulled away, "Oh hey, another good thing about when you were the evil queen?"

"Hm, what's that?" Regina asked.

Emma's smile widened, "Well, I don't know," she tried to bite back her smile, "They always say your outfits were pretty…um, nice, and from the pictures in the book, well, damn, I'd bow down to you any day," she smiled cheekily.

Regina held back her own smirk for only a moment, "I believe you are being dirty, Miss Swan," she whispered, placing a hand on the other woman's cheek, "Mm, lucky I like dirty," she winked before Emma moved closer and pressed her lips against the brunette's.

"You're moving out?" Charming asked incredulously, "It's so sudden."

Emma flinched, "Not really. I mean, I've hardly been here lately."

"So… you're moving in with Regina?" Snow asked, before switching her gaze to her husband.

"Regina?" Charming asked, shocked.

Emma exchanged a look with Snow, "Um, yeah. You know, I've been over there a lot, right?"

"Sure, to help with Henry," an oblivious and somewhat naïve Charming replied.

Emma pulled a face, "Well, um, not exactly. I mean, obviously it's easier for Henry if we're in the same place, but, uh, dad, you should know… ," she looked at her mom, who gave a nod, "Regina and I are together. Like, together together. Like romantically," she managed to stutter out.

Charming's eyes widened so much it was almost comical, "You what?"

"Darling, don't over-react," Snow said gently.

"You knew?" Charming turned to his wife, "And you're okay with this?" he asked.

Snow sighed, "Well, I've had a while to get used to it," she admitted, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I thought it was Emma's place."

"I don't understand, how the hell did you end up with Regina?" Charming's mind was still reeling.

Emma bit her lip nervously, "Well, like, she's been going through a tough time emotionally since we got back from Neverland, so I'd been spending a lot of time over there, as you know. Um, so we grew kind of close and then we kissed and – "

"When?" Charming questioned, frowning.

Emma blinked, "When what?"

"When did you kiss? I mean, was it last week or last month or – "

"Last month, I guess," Emma answered, "I didn't know how to tell you… I only told mom by mistake kinda… But you know she's changed, right? I mean, she's not the evil queen anymore. I really think Neverland proved that."

Charming frowned, "I know she's trying, Emma, but I just don't want you to get hurt when she disappoints you."

Emma fired up, "Hey, she's not going to disappoint me," she said defensively, "You don't know her like I do."

"You don't know her like we do," Charming snapped back, looking to his wife for support, "We knew her long before you did and we've seen her commit – "

"I know," Emma interrupted, sighing in exasperation, "But that's not knowing her. I know her, inside. She's a good person, she has a beautiful soul, she's…amazing," she finished, sighing.

Snow looked at her deflated daughter sympathetically, "Honey, you understand why we're worried… But," she glanced pointedly at her husband, "We will support you. We can't blame you for seeing the best in people," she smiled, "You get that from us. So, how about you invite her to dinner and then we can see…what you see in her."

Charming frowned, "What does Henry think of all this?"

Emma smiled, "He's thrilled," she shrugged, "He thinks it's some modern fairy tale. I mean, his two mom's together, it's any kid's dream their parents are together, right?"

Charming hesitated but after another look from his wife, sighed and nodded, "I suppose he would see it that way," he couldn't help the smile as he thought of his grandson, "Just please, be careful darling, it's only because care about you."

"I know, but you don't need to worry about me with Regina, really," she sighed, "Anyway, I better get the last of these boxes packed up, but I'll call you about dinner."

"Are you kidding me?" Regina groaned, "Dinner with the Un-Charming's?"

"Hey, they're my folks, don't call them that," Emma mumbled, even though she couldn't help smiling at her girlfriend's name for her parents.

"Ugh, I don't know, Emma… I mean, we're not exactly some big, happy family are we?"

Emma shrugged, "No…but it would mean a lot to me," she said quietly, continuing, "And it would help Henry too. You know he adores his grandparents, wouldn't it be easier to get along, at least be able to be civil?"

Regina sighed, "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, "Fine, I'll do it. For you and for Henry."

Emma smiled, "Thank you."

Regina bit her lip a moment before she let herself grin, "But you're going to owe me," she claimed.

Emma shook her head as she laughed, "Sure, any time," she pulled the other woman closer by the waist, "At your service," she murmured.

The brunette grinned wider, "Good," she said gently, "I'm going to call you on that, baby."

"Baby, huh?" Emma raised her eyebrows.

Regina blushed, "You are my baby," she murmured, "Unless you don't like it."

Emma smirked, "I love it," she exclaimed, "Just like I love you."