So, apparently my pun skills need plenty of work, the 3 puns in my last AN went over everyone's heads.

Anyway! The plot will keep thickening as we move on!

Let's see what's cooking, shall we?


"Someone took our memories away?" Emma asked, appalled.

"I believe so. There is no other reason to explain why a kiss would return our memories," Regina explained.

"But why? And how? We're the only magical beings left in Storybrooke, apart from the fairies, but you don't think they would..."

As neither of them had an answer, the topic was dropped for the moment. The two women fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to sit in each other's embrace. It hadn't even been a full week that they'd lost their memories, but they had missed being in the other's life as wives.

"So what should we do?" Emma asked after a couple of minutes. She was slowly caressing Regina's hair, something that the latter was enjoying very much.

After something that sounded almost like a purr, Regina answered, "I don't know. I don't understand why anyone would want to erase our memories, I don't remember anything specific that could be damning for anyone, which makes me think that amnesia wasn't their intention."

Emma quickly understood what she was trying to say. "You think someone tried to kill us?"

"It's a possibility we should keep in mind. Did you have any other theories?"

"Well I also thought about whether either of us knew some secret information, but someone did this to both of us...what if someone wanted to keep us apart?"

Regina shifted so she could look at Emma in the eye. Without saying a word, she was asking for Emma to elaborate.

"Well think about it. We both got amnesia that removed the exact quantity of memories that would take us both back to a point where we didn't like each other as much, or at least wouldn't admit it."

"They could have certainly picked other times," Regina thought out-loud.

"Maybe they didn't have enough time?"

Regina nodded, "It would explain the shoddy work. This was not done by someone experienced."

Emma grimaced. "That doesn't make me feel better about this. If they're not experienced, they're more dangerous. They could go off at any moment."

"Indeed, so I think that we need to be smart about how we'll catch them. But more importantly, we probably should not advertise that our memories have returned. We'll need to continue to pretend to hate each other."

The blonde let out a small chuckle. "Not a problem, I have an endless supply of snark and experience at pushing your buttons."

"Oh my love, you have no idea what you're signing up for."


Emma and Regina parted ways, deciding that Henry would be privy to their plan, as he deserved to know, and the list would stop there. Emma's parents were a firm no from Regina, and when Emma asked why, she got a look and the indisputable answer of "I don't need to remind you that after Ruby, your mother is second best at unable to keep her mouth shut."

With that, she headed back to the station, thankful at least that now, she wouldn't get plagued with disconnected memories cropping up each time she closed her eyes.

"Hey, I thought you were headed home because you were tired?" David asked when she came in, brows furrowed.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, I did go; turns out a couple of hours of rest can do wonders for me."

Her dad did not look convinced. "But you left your car here..."

"Oh!...That, yeah I wasn't too sure that me driving a vehicle while bone tired was the best idea," she added a sheepish smile for emphasis.

David couldn't argue with that logic, so he just closed the subject and got right back to what he was doing, filing. Turns out that even in sleepy Storybrooke, the paperwork could pile up. While Emma left her dad to his devices, she went to her desk to fill out the paperwork so it could be filed.

"So dad, I was wondering, was there anything weird on the night of my accident?" Emma asked after a couple of minutes of silent working.

"Well this is Storybrooke, weird things happen all the time. But there wasn't anything weird, if anything it was too peaceful."


Emma looked outside the window, it was pouring outside, and she wanted to be anywhere but there right now, but she was stuck until the end of her shift. Besides, even if she were to leave, she'd have nowhere to go. She was still not talking to Regina, so her home was out of consideration, but at the same time, going back to where she was staying, her parents' house, wasn't too much of a comforting thought. It wasn't that her parents were being unsympathetic with the situation, but rather that they kept asking what they had been arguing about, and she didn't feel like explaining that, when Gold killed himself, some of his power was transferred to Regina due to her proximity, and that it was making her wife unstable.

Not even Henry knew. But not for lack of trying on Emma's part. She wanted to tell him, but Regina made her promise not to. She was afraid that, should he find out about this new darkness, he would resent her once again, as he had when he found out about her being the Evil Queen. It tore both of them to know that they were keeping something from Henry, but it was for the best.

When the station phone rang, she thanked her lucky stars for the reprieve. Her thankfulness would be short-lived, but she took the little things as they came.

"What's that Mrs. Wall? A disturbance? I'm sure it must be the wind, there's a storm outside. Glowing eyes? Yes I suppose that is weird, and I probably should investigate. Okay, I will be there in a bit." She hung up the phone with a weary sigh. Could this town ever get a break?

Just when Emma thought that things couldn't get anymore complicated, she had received a text from Regina. She wanted Emma to come home.

Without much thought, she sent back a curt response. She technically wasn't in the middle of a case, just answering a disturbance call, but she still said it out of spite.

Immediately after, she got a worried response. The storm wasn't that bad, so she couldn't resist snarking back.

Not receiving an immediate text again, Emma made her way to the door of the station, and checked to make sure she wasn't leaving anything on that shouldn't be. She turned off the lights, since after this she was finishing her shift. Making sure that her phone was routed to take any emergency calls, she turned to locate the cruiser. Finding it, she sprinted to the vehicle, and quickly dove inside, only getting a little wet.

Turning on the engine, she felt her phone alert her to a message. Regina again. Of course she would insist on accompanying her. Resigning to her fate, she let Regina know she'd pick her up. She'd have to pass by there anyway.

Glancing to her phone after a moment, she typed out a quick message, and pressed send before she could change her mind. Her phone buzzed after a few seconds, letting her know that the message did not send. Just her luck. The storm was probably blocking the reception.


Of course, Emma remembered everything from that fateful night, but she wanted to know if maybe she'd missed any information, like maybe something happened after she was knocked out, or in the days that she was unconscious.

"Just your average car crash resulting in amnesiac victims huh?" Emma said.

"Pretty much. If you really want to nitpick, the fallen tree was a bit suspicious..." David commented.

Furrowing her brows, Emma prompted, "How so?"

"Well, I've passed by that road quite often in patrols, and I've seen the tree. It's always been leaning away from the road. If it fell naturally - it certainly wasn't cut - it wouldn't have fallen on the road."

"But there were heavy winds that night- er...or so I'm guessing because of the storm?" Emma quickly tried to cover up her slip about her additional knowledge.

David didn't catch it, as he just nodded. "True, but that was an old tree. It was about to keel over anyway, but I suppose it must've just been bad luck."

"Yeah, probably," Emma sighed.


Regina had decided that, considering that she had already not showed up for work this morning, she'd take the rest of the day off. It wasn't as if anyone would reprimand her, she was the mayor. As she and Emma had coordinated, Emma would try to fish for information from her dad, see if anything about the case was wonky, while Regina would deal with Whale. And she most certainly wasn't going to fish.

She had a more direct route, and a memory potion ready once her little inquisition was done. Storming into Whale's office - using her magic to unlock the door - she found that her task had become infinitely more simple. The stench of alcohol was in the air and the good doctor was looking positively pathetic and drunk.

"Is it so wise to be drinking on the job?" Regina asked, barely attempting to veil her condescension.

"Fuck you," Whale simply answered.

"How eloquent. And while I'm sure you'd wish to continue wallowing in your pity and despair for whatever justifiable reason you see fit, I have some questions that need answering, and you are going to answer them, whether you like them, or not." If there was one person that the years hadn't allowed her to forgive, it was Whale. The skeeve was still as disgusting as the day she met him, and no amount of time made him more sympathetic to his plight.

So, magicking away the tumbler and the whiskey, she sat down on the visitor's chair, keeping eye-contact with the bleary-eyed drunk across the desk. "So, let us get started. You mentioned that we got amnesia from our head trauma, correct?"

Whale let out an undignified groan, swaying his head in annoyance. "Yes, did I not make it clear earlier?"

"Crystal. Which is why I'm wondering how true love's kiss was able to restore my memories."

There it was, trump card on the table, and the mood shifted. Gone was the tipsy Whale, and in his stead, was an alert Whale, one who was painfully aware of what Regina had just said.

"Ah, so you do know something..." Regina continued, seeing the look in his eyes. "Care to elaborate?"

Taking a deep breath, he let it out shakily, looking down at his hands, and not the intimidating woman in front of him. "There was no head trauma, that's true. But we're not sure of the exact reason for why you and Emma lost your memories."

"We?" Regina asked, pointing out the pronoun used.

"Mother Superior has been helping me to figure out the cause, but it's a bit hard, given the circumstances of its secrecy."

Regina was not impressed. Even less so to hear the meddling fairy was involved. "I see. And pray tell, why would you let us believe that it was head trauma, Dr. Whale? Last I checked, omitting the truth from your patients is a crime, and combined with my clearly seeing you drinking on the job, you'll need a very good reason to convince me why I shouldn't just revoke your license."

Whale let out a mirthless chuckle. "Oh please, cut it with the bad-cop attitude. Your threats are empty, but I'll indulge you, since you seem so keen on your path of destruction, a little push further from me will be seen as an act of mercy in the future. I wanted to spare you and Emma the pain during your amnesia state, unless you wanted everyone to know that your magic erased both your and your wife's memories?"

Regina maintained her mask of indifference even though she was internally crumbling. She did this?

"So tell me, Madam Mayor, is there trouble in paradise?"


The ride thus far had been quiet, only the sounds of the thick droplets of water, and the constant swishing of the windshield wipers were heard.

They were returning home, Emma hadn't been too keen to explore the expansive Walls property for a pair of glowing eyes in the middle of a storm. She vaguely looked around, with Regina helping to cast some light, and they hadn't found anything. Convinced that it was probably a stray cat, they returned to tell the Walls that if those eyes appeared again, to call and try to take a picture.

Regina looked quickly at her hands, and then to her wife. "Emma, I'm sorry."

Emma let out a sigh. "I honestly don't know what to do Regina. I get what you mean about worrying, I would too. Hell I worry every time I get in a skirmish about not getting to see you or Henry again. I'm sorry too, I know that this is hard for you. I should be helping you, not giving you reason to become more stressed. I know that trying to keep this new magic hidden and secret for so long is hard. So what do you say about trying to put this behind us? We'll manage it together."

"Sounds perfect. I love you Emma."

The blonde quickly spared a glance at her wife, and could've melted at the loving look Regina was giving her.

Then, the car swerved.

She tried to brake but hydroplaned forward. She eased up on the accelerator as they moved steadily forward due to the the downhill slope.

"Emma watch out, there's a tree!" Regina pointed out at the fallen trunk in front of them, blocking the road.

She kept pumping the brakes, hoping for some traction, but nothing. "Can you teleport us out of here?"

Regina regretfully shook her head. The circumstances and the tension might make their teleportation go all kinds of wrong. The only thing she could think of was to grab one of Emma's hands, firmly gripping the steering wheel.

As they neared the fallen tree, Emma quickly glanced at her wife. Her earlier unsent text floated to mind, and she opened her mouth. "I-"


"Hey mom!" Henry greeted, entering the house. Emma trailed behind him, hands in her pockets. She hadn't told Henry why she was accompanying him to the house, only that both she and Regina wanted to talk to him, but he had accepted the company with a grin.

"Hello Henry, would you like to put your stuff upstairs? Then we can talk," Regina said with a smile, coming out of the kitchen.

Both Henry and Emma could tell that something was up with Regina, but neither could quite place a finger on what it was.

As Henry bounded up the stairs, Emma approached her wife.

"Are you okay?"

Regina shook her head. "We'll talk in a bit."

Hearing that Henry was out of earshot, Emma cupped Regina's cheeks and murmured, "I missed you," before giving her a passionate kiss that was eagerly returned. After a few moments, they heard that Henry was heading back down, and they parted.

"Let's sit, we have a lot to discuss," Regina said, clearing her throat as she recovered from that kiss. She only hoped Emma wouldn't see her differently after she found out the truth.


In the middle of the forest, two figures had gathered.

"Any news on Al?" Teresa Bark asked.

Peter Mahogany shook his head. "Tried to sneak in to the hospital, didn't get far, but he's still in custody, condition not too stable."

"How dare she hurt our brother, especially considering our bond."

"She is not aware of our bond," Peter reminded her.

"Soon enough, she will. And then together, we will be a force to be reckoned with," Teresa vowed.


Ooooh, mysterious huh?

I didn't include the texts in the flashback 'cause you already saw them, they're the ones from chapter 3.

And just to clarify something in case it wasn't clear, Gold took his own life, but popular theory has established that it was Regina who did the deed [because EVIL QUEEN!, the idiots], hence the discrepancy between what Whale said, and what Emma was musing on in the flashback.

Moving on! Next up will be Date in the Name of the Law, and then Such a Heavenly View!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!