"One black coffee, and one hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and cinnamon," Ruby said, placing the first order in front of Zelena and the latter in front of Henry. She then turned to the teenager, offering him a wink. "You really are your mother's son, you know?"

"Which mother?" Henry joked.

"The blonde one with the serious sugar addiction," Ruby answered with a look that said 'what is she like?'

With that, Ruby went back over to the counter to get back to work, leaving Henry with his Auntie. Zelena took a sip of her coffee, then looked at Henry with a 'let's get down to business' air to her.

"So, what's this grand plan that you've come up with?"

"Well," Henry leaned forwards so that he could whisper covertly. His operations were always top secret, and Operation SwanQueen was no different. "It's two-fold. First of all, we need to get my mom to fall in love with my ma. Secondly, we need to make my ma realise that she's already in love with my mom."

Zelena narrowed her eyes Henry. "That's your plan?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well, it's hardly a plan for a start. It's more... a list of objectives."

"Yeah, well... that's all I got so far. I don't know how you're supposed to make someone fall in love with someone else, and I don't know how you're supposed to make someone realise that they're in love already. I am only fifteen, after all. That's why I need your help. You have more life experience than I do."

"Oh, Hen," Zelena said, sounding sympathetic. "Do you really think that I know the first thing about love? Let's not forget that I fell for the leader of the Underworld. When it comes to relationships, I think that you're the expert here, seeing as you're the one with a girlfriend."

"If I'm the expert, then we're in serious trouble."

Henry leaned back in his seat, feeling disheartened by how little progress they were making. He hadn't been able to speak to Zelena the night before because Regina had been milling around and she could not, under any circumstances, hear what Henry and Zelena were planning. She would probably murder them both, and that wouldn't help anyone. So, Zelena had said that she would take Henry to Granny's in the morning and they could discuss the plan further.

Henry had spent half of the night lying awake, trying to think of ways that he could get Regina to fall in love with Emma. But it was hard, really hard. Was it supposed to be this hard to make alleged True Love's fall in love? Surely not.

Henry decided to tell Zelena what his outlook on the situation was, hoping it would get their plan going. "I think getting Emma to realise that she's in love with Regina is going to be the easiest part of this. She'll probably realise it on her own soon enough, seeing as she must know that she's devastated when she doesn't have my mom in her life. But, if worst comes to worst and she doesn't realise on her own, then we can just hint like crazy until she gets it, or just tell her. By that logic, getting Regina to fall in love with Emma is going to be the hard part."

"Do you think your mother was in love with... well, your other mother before she took the forgetting potion?" Zelena asked thoughtfully.

"How should I know? I know that she cared about her a lot, but I don't know if she was in love."

"I've been thinking... Regina said that she was hurting before she took the potion, but that she's not anymore. On the night that she took the forgetting potion - New Year's - she said that she saw a lot of couples together and that's what made her think to take the potion."

"So?"

"So..." Zelena looked away, trying to decide on the right way of putting it. "Do you think that, on New Year's Eve, Regina saw Emma and Hook together and that's why she was so upset. Maybe she was jealous of Killian because she was in love with Emma, and it was hurting her to see the person that she loved be with someone else."

"That doesn't make sense. My mom took the potion to forget about Robin, not Emma."

"Hmm," Zelena nodded and thought some more. "Perhaps she was the same as Emma: she hadn't realised that she was in love. She could have seen Emma and Killian, it hurt her because she was in love with Emma, but she hadn't realised it yet so she pinned it on the fact that she was missing Robin."

Henry considered this, then nodded his head. "It isn't entirely impossible," He admitted.

Zelena shrugged dismissively. "It's just a thought that I had, but if it's true then it might help us."

"How so?"

"It means that Regina has fallen in love with Emma once before. If that's happened, all we have to do is show her the reasons that she fell in love with Emma the first time and hope that she falls in love again."

Henry nodded again, a smile appearing on his lips. Finally something they could work with. "That's true."

"OK, so, this is where you come in." Henry tilted his head to the side questioningly at his aunt's words, making Zelena sigh tiredly. "I wasn't here when Regina fell in love with Emma, was I? You're the one who has witnessed the entirety of their ever-changing relationship. So, go on. What made Regina fall for Emma?"

Henry gave Zelena a look that said 'seriously?', because now he had to rack his brain for reasons that Regina might have fallen for Emma, which was hardly an easy task. Not that there weren't a lot of reasons to love Emma, but because trying to guess why someone fell in love with someone was like trying to understand what went on in their mind, and that was rather difficult. Especially when that person was Regina Mills.

Still, Henry tried to create a timeline of Emma and Regina's relationship in his head and quickly went through everything he could remember.

"Maybe..." He began slowly, making it clear he was just thinking out loud. "It was Emma's goodness. When they met, Regina was evil and Emma was the Saviour, so maybe she liked that Emma was good at heart, which was the exact opposite of what she was at the time." Henry realised that that was a terrible idea so shook his head and carried on. "It could have been because Emma is so strong. She can give as good as she gets, so when Regina was being all evilly, Emma would fight back. Not many people did that."

"It could have been that," Zelena acknowledged. "Regina likes a challenge."

"Or it could have been because of me," Henry said, not trying to sound too arrogant or anything. "When I was missing in Neverland they had to work as a team to get me back. And then when we returned to Storybrooke, they started to co-parent me."

"So it could have been how good Emma was with you," Zelena summarised. "Regina could have noticed that Emma was a good mother and liked that about her."

"It's a possibility." Henry nodded his head. "Was there anything there that we can use?"

Zelena started to think about it, trying to formulate a plan in her head. As she thought, her eyes drifted to the window of the diner, where she had to do a double take.

"We might not even need a plan. They might fall in love on their own," She said with a frown, watching a familiar brunette chatting with a familiar blonde. "Your mums are outside now and they're... talking."


Regina had been on her way to her office when she had spotted the blonde. With everything that had gone on recently - the holidays, the forgetting potion - she was falling behind with her work, and intended to spend a couple of hours at the town hall catching up.

She had decided to walk, seeing as it was a sunny day and she enjoyed the chilly January air. She was halfway along Main Street when she saw her.

Emma was sitting on a bench outside of Granny's playing with Neal. For a moment, Regina had wondered what Emma was doing with the little toddler, and slowed her pace while she tried to decide if this was something she needed to be concerned about. But then it had dawned on her that the little boy was Emma's brother, according to what people had told her, and she realised that there was no need to worry.

Regina had spent a lot of time with Neal in his short life, mostly because she was close friends with Mary Margaret and David so they often brought him along to dinners at Granny's and other family get-togethers. She had babysat him a few times too, so had built up quite a close relationship with him. He was a part of her family.

Which is how she knew him quite well, and she knew that he was a shy boy. He was usually cautious around strangers, only becoming his happy, bubbly self around people that he was close to, like other family members. The way that Neal was giggling with Emma told Regina that they were definitely family.

Regina stopped walking, sticking close to the wall of the building next to her so that Emma wouldn't see her, and watched the laughing siblings. Neal was wearing a thick woolly hat, which he kept on pulling down to cover his eyes. Every time that he did, Emma would start looking around, as though she couldn't see the boy, and calling his name as though he were invisible. Then, Neal would lift his hat and shout 'Here I am!', causing Emma to look at him with a shocked expression and ask 'How did you do that?' This process kept on repeating itself, with Neal never tiring of it and Emma seeming to enjoy it.

Eventually, Neal took his hat off completely, revealing his dishevelled blonde hair which had clearly been through hell while he had been lifting and lowering his hat. Regina smiled at the sight, and heard Emma's laughter fill the air. The sheriff pulled her brother onto her lap and started combing his hair with her fingers, much to Neal's chagrin. The little boy tried to wriggle for freedom, not wanting to be fussed over, so Emma had to become more stern to try to get him to behave.

It was actually quite nice to watch. Observing children was always entertaining, because they did such odd things and didn't yet have a full understanding or what was and wasn't socially acceptable. But Regina found that it was Emma that she was looking at today. Maybe it was because, subconsciously, Regina hadn't expected Emma to be good with children, but the way that she handled Neal seemed to contradict that.

Regina was so busy watching how Emma controlled the boy that she didn't notice Neal turn in her direction until she heard his little voice shouting, "Gina!"

Regina's eyes widened as she cursed herself for standing in such plain sight as she had now been spotted. Emma's head snapped up, looking around until her eyes landed on Regina, then she stared at the brunette in surprise for a few moments, Regina's presence obviously unexpected. Emma's temporary distraction gave Neal his golden opportunity to scramble off her lap and charge towards Regina.

The blonde boy's head was about to smash into her thigh when Regina ducked and scooped him up with practised ease. She put the giddy boy on her hip and looked at him with a special smile that adults only reserve for children. "Hello, little guy," She said, bouncing the toddler slightly. "How are you doing today?"

"Good!"

"What are you doing out here?"

"Ice cream!"

"You're getting ice cream?" She asked, sounding exaggeratedly surprised for Neal's benefit. "Aren't you a lucky boy?"

Neal nodded enthusiastically with a toothy grin, then looked over his shoulder to where Emma was walking towards them, her hands stuffed sheepishly into her pockets. Emma smiled at Regina as she stood in front of her, though it was a little wary, like she was worried that she wouldn't be welcome. Ordinarily, she probably wouldn't, but Regina decided that she would be civil with the other woman.

Emma hesitated for a second before saying, "We're not getting ice cream."

"What?" Regina frowned.

"He just told you that we're getting ice cream, didn't he?" Emma asked, nodding to the toddler in Regina's arms. Regina nodded her head, causing Emma to smile and say, "He's lying. He wants ice cream, but he isn't allowed any in the morning because it makes him sick. Isn't that right, Neal?"

Neal pouted at being told that he wasn't getting his ice cream, then stuck his tongue out bitterly at Emma. When he turned back to Regina, he was scowling comically.

"Hey, fix your face, young man," Regina poked his nose with a finger, but Neal shook his head to shake her hand away.

"Fix your attitude, dude," Emma nudged her brother's shoulder, but Neal was still less than amused. She looked at Regina apologetically. "Ignore him. I've been told that he's in his Terrible Two's. If we keep telling him what to do, he'll end up throwing a tantrum, and that won't be fun for any of us. Trust me."

"It sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"All I'm gonna say is that people trying to eat their breakfast at Granny's don't take too kindly to a two year old boy kicking and screaming in the middle of the floor."

Regina lifted an eyebrow and gave an amused smile to Emma. "And when did this happen?"

Emma glanced at her wrist as if to check what the time was, though Regina noted that Emma wasn't even wearing a watch and smiled bemusedly."About half an hour ago," Emma informed anyway. "When I first told him that he couldn't get ice cream. That's why we're sitting outside." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the bench that they had just been sitting on.

Regina turned to Neal, who was still scowling, though he was now playing with a button on Regina's coat. "Sounds like you've been being a naughty boy, mister."

Neal looked at her grumpily. "No."

"No?"

"No."

Regina laughed slightly while Neal continued to fiddle with her button, his attention leaving her once more. "He's just like Henry was at this age," Regina said, unsure whether or not she was saying it for Emma's benefit or just for her own. "One second he's the happiest little boy in the world, and the next he's sulking. He just needs to learn that he can't get what he wants all the time."

"Well, let's hope he continues to follow in Henry's footsteps," Emma said, absentmindedly reaching out to straighten Neal's coat. "If he does, he'll turn out just fine."

"I think he'll be just fine anyway," Regina admitted. "He's a Charming, after all. I think there's something in the Charming genes which makes it impossible for them to be anything less than outstanding people."

"Thanks."

Regina looked up when Emma said that word, unsure what she was being thanked for exactly. But then she remembered that Emma was also a Charming and realised that she had unintentionally complimented her, too. Regina really needed to stop forgetting who Emma was related to, but, in her mind, this was all new and it was extremely confusing.

"Anyway," Regina shook her head and changed the subject. "If you're not getting ice cream, then what are you doing?"

"We were on our way to the station," Emma informed her. "My shift starts in half an hour, so me and my dad are making a trade. I'll give him Neal, he'll give me a pile of paperwork."

Regina smirked. "Sounds like a fair deal."

"Right?" Emma agreed with a shake of her head.

Neal then decided that he was bored of Regina and turned towards Emma, suddenly throwing his body towards the blonde while he said, "Emmy."

Emma had to quickly step forward to catch him, resulting in her being stood extremely close to Regina. At first, Emma didn't even notice how close she was - too preoccupied with settling Neal onto her own hip - but Regina noticed. She noticed because she could smell Emma, and it was a familiar scent, the same one that was on the red leather jacket left over at Regina's house.

Regina didn't step away. "Emmy?" She said quietly instead.

"Yeah," Emma laughed a little and then looked up, realising that she was standing a little over a foot away from Regina. Her eyes dropped to Regina's body, looking at their close proximity, then she looked back to Regina's face and swallowed. "Yeah," She said again. "That's what he calls me, for some reason."

"It's cute," Regina admitted.

"I guess."

Regina smiled as she looked at Neal and flattened down his hair, with was still sticking up in places. "I think he's incapable of saying anyone's name correctly. You're 'Emmy', I'm 'Gina'..."

"Henry's 'Henny'." Emma contributed.

"Zelena is 'Zena'."

"Seriously?" Emma said, amused. "I've never heard that one."

"Oh, I heard it on New Year's Eve," Regina informed the blonde. "It was very entertaining."

"I bet it was," Emma nodded. "You know, I'd never even noticed how many nicknames Neal had created until you just pointed it out." She turned to face Neal, who had been looking over her shoulder but turned to face her when he noticed her attention was on him. "You just have to make a pet name for everyone, don't you, buddy?"

Neal looked at her blankly, then looked back over her shoulder again, making Emma and Regina laugh.

Regina looked to the side as she laughed, catching sight of something in the corner of her eye. She turned her attention fully to the window of Granny's, then self-consciously stepped away from Emma. "It seems we have an audience."

"Huh?" Emma frowned in confusion, then followed Regina's gaze, her eyes finding Henry and Zelena staring at them through the window of the diner. "Oh..." Emma lifted the hand that wasn't holding Neal up into an awkward wave, which was returned by both the aunt and nephew. "What are they doing?"

"I have no idea." Regina admitted, then looked at the ground. "Probably spying on us. You know how much they want us to-"

Regina stopped abruptly. She was about to say 'kiss', but it had occurred to her just in time that Emma didn't know that they were soulmates so it probably wouldn't be wise to finish the sentence in that way.

Unfortunately, Emma noticed that way that Regina made herself shut up, and decided to question it. "How much they want us to...?"

Regina cleared her throat and finished with, "Break the effects of the forgetting potion."

"Oh, yeah," Emma nodded. "Henry's not too thrilled about it, is he?" Regina gave Emma a look that said, 'you're telling me' and folded her arms across her chest. "I've tried telling him that we don't even know how to reverse the potion, but he insists that there's a way."

Regina avoided Emma's gaze, worried that she'd give away the fact that there was a solution. "Yes, well,"

"I mean, obviously True Love's Kiss should work, but with Robin gone, that's impossible. Right?"

"Right."

"Right." Emma looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shook her head. She bent down and put Neal on the ground, keeping firm hold of his hand, though. "Anyway, we should be going. My shift starts soon, so..."

"Of course," Regina nodded.

"I'll see you around," Emma gave Regina a little smile and turned to leave, pausing to wave at Henry and Zelena through the window again.

Then Emma started to walk away, partially holding Neal up as he toddled along next to her. Regina smiled at the sight, but then realised that the blonde was walking in the same direction that she had been about to walk in and groaned internally. It was always awkward to walk in the same direction as someone you just said goodbye to. Regina shook her head and followed behind the blonde, the sound of her heels alerting Emma and Neal to her presence.

When Emma cast a questioning glance at her, Regina explained, "I'm on my way to town hall."

"Oh," Emma nodded in understanding as Regina caught up to her and walked beside her.

They walked together in an uncomfortable silence, Regina spending the entire time wondering why she hadn't just waited until Emma was out of sight before continuing her journey to town hall. It would have been a lot easier and a lot less tense.

After a couple of minutes, though, Neal broke the silence as he screamed, "Weeee!"

Regina frowned and looked down at the little boy, but Emma seemed to already know what he wanted. "Not right now, little man," She said to him.

Neal looked up at his sister, a grumpy frown appearing on his face. "Weeee!" He said again, more sternly this time.

"I just said no!" Emma reminded him.

Neal stopped walking, causing Emma to stop too, and stamped his foot. "Weeee!"

Emma sighed in exasperation and rubbed her face. "Neal." Her voice was firm, trying to get the young boy to behave.

"What is it that he wants?" Regina asked.

"It's this thing that he does with my mom and dad," Emma explained. "They each take one of his hands and then, while they walk, they swing him up into the air. He loves it."

"Ah," Regina nodded in understanding. "And I suppose 'wee' is what he screams while they do it."

"Exactly."

Regina looked from the frustrated blonde to the stubborn little boy. She knew the right thing to do would be to insist that Neal not get his own way, merely to teach him the lesson that he couldn't always get what he wanted. That was why it came as a surprise, even to her, when her next words tumbled out of her mouth. "We could do it."

Emma looked at her in surprise, then shook her head. "You don't need to do that."

"I want to." Regina smiled, showing that she was being genuine.

Emma smiled gratefully and then nodded. "OK. You can grab his other hand."

Regina did as she was told, going to the other side of Neal and taking his hand in hers. She could see the excited smile on his lips and found herself smiling too. She could never feel guilty about making a child happy.

The trio continued walking down Main Street, Neal now giggling in anticipation. Eventually, Emma said, "Alright, on the count of three. 1, 2, 3!"

On three, Emma and Regina swung Neal into the air, not high enough to scare him but still high enough that he got the burst of adrenaline that he had been looking for. The little boys laughter filled the air, and Regina found that it was infectious.

"Again! Again!" Neal squealed once his feet were back on the ground.

"OK. 1, 2 ,3!"

Again, Emma and Regina swung Neal, and again he screamed 'Weeeeee!' and ended up in a fit of giggles. Regina laughed and glanced at Emma, who was smiling down at her brother with a look of unadulterated joy. Regina had never seen the blonde look so happy before - so content - and she realised that Emma's smile was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

Emma must have felt Regina's eyes on her, for she looked up at the brunette, her smile never wavering. Regina's heart almost melted when that dazzling smile was directed at her.

"As I said, he loves it," Emma said with a laugh, her eyes going back to the little boy.

"Again!" Neal shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Alright, but only once more," Emma told him. "We're almost at the station and I have to drop you off with daddy, OK?"

Neal nodded vigorously, caring more about his next swing than he did about anything else.

"1, 2, 3!"

His final swing was much the same as the first two, and Regina found that playing the game with the little boy had made her almost as happy as it had made him. She felt lighter now that she had made a child's day, and didn't really want to stop. It was such a normal thing to do, such a family thing to do, and it made Regina's heart warm. It was the perfect little family that she had always wanted. Raising Henry on her own had been amazing, but she often wondered what it would have been like to have someone there with her. Now she had been given the slightest taste of it and she knew... it was incredible. Emma would be a fantastic mom, even to a young child.

"And we're here," Emma said, stopping walking outside of the sheriff's station. Regina stopped too, to say goodbye to the two siblings. "Thank you for that," The blonde said sincerely.

"It was my pleasure." Regina knelt down in front of Neal. "And I'll see you soon, mister. You be good, OK?" Neal nodded his head with a grin, giggling when Regina poked his nose playfully. She leaned forward, offering her cheek for a kiss from the toddler. He obliged, giving her the quickest and softest of pecks. "Is that all I get?" Regina asked, feigning offence. "I don't think so," She grabbed the boy's cheeks gently and kissed his face all over, leaving lipstick prints in every spot she touched. When she pulled away, Neal rubbed at his face as though he was disgusted, but his smile gave him away.

Regina patted his head and then stood up to say goodbye to Emma. However, before she could said anything, the blonde joked, "Is that the goodbye I'm going to get to?"

Regina raised an eyebrow. Part of her was taken aback from the joke, but part of her reasoned that, in Emma's mind, they had known each other for years so what she had said wouldn't be too inappropriate. It was with that in mind that Regina chose her answer; a simple, "Not today, Miss Swan."

"Damn," Emma said with a little laugh.

"Goodbye, Miss Swan."

"Cya, Regina."

Regina turned and continued on her way to town hall, feeling the blonde's eyes on her as she walked.


The first thing that Emma did when she got inside the station was sit Neal in a chair and give him a stuffed bear to play with.

The next thing she did was walk over to her father's desk, put her hands on it and lean over him like a detective giving an interrogation. "Do you know something that I don't?"

David looked away from his computer screen and up at the blonde, seeming confused by his daughter's question. "Um..."

"Because I think that you do."

"I think you'll need to expand a little."

"Well, you know how I have my superpower, right? A lie detector built into my brain?" Emma tapped her head as she said this. David looked to the side, obviously wondering what was going on, but nodded anyway. "Well, I've just been talking to Regina. I said that it would be impossible for True Love's Kiss to give her her memory back because Robin was gone, and she agreed..." Emma leaned forward for effect. "But she was lying."

"And what does this have to do with me?" David asked innocently.

"Because everyone that I have told that Regina's true love is dead has said the same thing: 'But is he though?' You and mom included. So, why don't you tell me what you're hiding?"

David leaned back in his seat, getting as far away from Emma as he could. "Emma..."

"Is Robin still alive?"

"Of course not?"

"Does Regina had another True Love that I don't know about?"

David opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Emma stood up straight again, her face looking shocked. "Holy crap. Regina has another True Love."

"OK, two things. First: language; my son is sitting over there. Second-"

"Who is it?"

"Emma-"

"I'm serious. You need to tell me right now."

"I don't think I should."

"Why? Do I know them?"

"Yes."

"Then who is it?"

"Honey..." David stood up and walked around his desk so that he was next to his daughter. "This isn't anyone else's business. It's not our secret to tell. By the sounds of it, Regina knows exactly who her True Love is, so you can always ask her and, if she's ready, then she'll tell you."

"So there is a way that this potion can be reversed?" Emma clarified, to which her father nodded. "Thank God. But I still just..." Emma trailed off and folded her arms across her chest. "I can't believe that she has another True Love. But... if she knows who it is, then why isn't she with them?"

"I've already said enough," David decided, backing away from his daughter and walking over to his son. "I'm just going to go now, before I say something that I shouldn't. Have you got it from here?" He nodded to the computer, clearly meaning manning the station. Emma nodded her head, so David said, "OK then. I'll see you later, sweetie." He picked up Neal and walked out of the station, leaving Emma alone.

Emma stood there for a long while, thinking about the new information she had acquired. Why did Regina get so many True Loves? Daniel, Robin, whoever the hell this new guy was...

And why did the thought of Regina being with someone again make Emma's heart drop?


A/N: I've updated two stories in as many days. Are you proud?

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know if you did, and if you didn't... let me know why? :)