Regina was noticeably happy Friday, July 24 of 2015. She practically skipped to work, feeling like a teenager again. She caught herself doodling hearts in the corners of official documents she was trying to read. It was really gross and disgustingly cliché, but that was the beauty of it. The world seemed happier purely because she herself was happy.

That lasted a mere handful of hours, the bubble popping when Emma strode into her office and sat opposite her.

"Emma," Regina breathed, not knowing what to expect. It had been less than 24 hours since the intervention. Her stomach twisted up with guilt for being happy while Emma was suffering. She had to remind herself that she was allowed to be happy, no matter how invested she was in Emma's problems.

"I decided," Emma announced. "I know I have to end it with him. The sooner the better. I need to rip it off like a bandaid, or else I'll chicken out and he'll own me forever."

Regina swallowed. "As relieved as I am to hear that's your decision, I have to ask… How much of it has to do with what I said at the pier?"

Emma blushed. "Er, kinda a lot," she admitted sheepishly. "But to be fair, whenever I think about the baby, I start thinking about you, and when I think about you I think about Henry, and then the baby again."

Regina sighed. "I need to be honest with you."

"Okay..." Emma drawled nervously.

"I'm poly."

Emma blinked a couple times. "Since when?"

"It's new. I want to say probably after it was obvious Robin and I weren't going to work out," Regina answered.

"Oh. Well, that's okay."

"Is it? It was supposedly okay with Maleficent, but then she threw a fit when I mentioned getting back out and dating men."

"What a bitch."

A twitch of a smirk pulled at the corner of Regina's mouth. "Agreed."

Emma folded her arms across her chest. "So, who is he?"

"Emma..." Regina blushed furiously.

"Ooh, now I really want to know!" Emma leaned onto Regina's desk. "Tell me, tell me!"

Regina sighed and pushed the chair back from her desk, spinning in it once. "I'm dating Dr. Hopper. Well, only one date, but there will definitely be more."

"You're dating Archie?" Emma took a moment to process that. "I suppose that makes sense."

"He's really sweet..." Regina pulled herself back before she could fall too far into a dreamy state. "I just wanted you to know what you would be signing up for. If you're interested in me, I wouldn't be entirely yours, you would be sharing me. I know that's not for everyone, so I didn't want to end up blindsiding you. If you're not interested in me, we can just chalk that kiss up to your hormones or whatever reason you feel most comfortable with. I'll still be here for you either way, Emma, that won't change."

Emma nodded. "Alright, thank you for that." She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "I came here, though, because you said you could help contact him. I don't want to lose my nerve."

"Say no more." Regina stood up and walked around her desk to offer Emma her hand.

Emma took it, giving it a companionable squeeze before standing up.

Regina let her magic carry them to her vault, in front of her mirror.

Emma swallowed, squeezing Regina's hand harder. "I can do this," she whispered to herself. Then she looked at Regina. "Can you magically remove my cover up? I want him to face what he's done to me."

Regina mentally cheered for her. "Of course." She gently touched her cheek with her free hand, sending her magic out to unveil the wound.

Emma winced when she saw her reflection, the ugly truth glaring at her with Regina at her side.

Regina moved her hand to hover in front of the mirror. "Are you ready?"

Emma nodded. "Ready as I'm going to be."

Regina waved her hand in front of the mirror, keeping both the visuals and the sound one-way for the time being. "Hook," she called out as her magic searched for the pirate. She looked at Emma. "He won't hear or see us yet."

Emma nodded.

Regina's magic soon located the pirate, his face filling the mirror, but not seeing them. Emma's breath hitched in her throat and she swallowed nervously, eyes darting to Regina.

Regina sensed Emma's distress. "You've got this. He won't be able to hurt you, he won't be able to touch you. You're going to be alright."

Emma took a steadying breath and looked at the monster in the mirror once again. The man she still loved although she knew it was unhealthy. The man she would miss although he had mistreated her. Her free hand curled protectively around her belly. Regina said he wouldn't be able to hurt her, but Emma knew the break up was going to be painful, even if it were more like breaking free. She looked at Regina again. "Okay, I'm ready to be seen and heard. But I want it to be only me he sees, at least at first, if I can handle it."

"Of course, Emma." Regina gave her hand one more squeeze before releasing it and stepping out of the mirror's view. She had her magic open the visuals and sound both ways.

"Hook," Emma's voice came out both longing and angry.

Hook spotted her. "Emma?"

Emma's breath came out shakily. "Killian, I-I love you. I probably always will. But I can't be with someone who does something like this -" She pointed at her mouth to eye cut. "For any reason, but certainly not something as trivial as talking to someone on the phone. I can't be with someone who tries to cause a miscarriage because they know I want to keep the baby. I can't!"

"Emma, be rational. Your family needs me."

"Actually, Killian, they don't!" Emma snapped, tears beginning to fall. "They only sent you away to get you away from me. They have a new way to acquire what my father needs. You… You made me feel like I had to be grateful to you for saving his life in Neverland, that is the only reason why you got that first kiss. It was my mistake for allowing everything else that followed. Everything but this baby. I seem to be good at making babies with men who don't deserve to be fathers, but so far, those babies turn out to be pretty great people." Emma lifted her shirt. "Not only did you try to cause a miscarriage, you did this! Do you really hate the idea of being a parent that much? How could you have ever loved me if you could do something like this with your bloody damn hook?! How could you ignore me crying and begging you to stop?! Apologies don't fix everything. I am terrified at what a life without you in it means, but I know it will at least be better than a life with you. For me, and certainly for the baby! We are over, do you understand me? Done. I don't need you anymore. I never needed you at all. And now… I have so many people who love me, more than I know what to do with. But most importantly… I won't be alone without you." Emma looked over to Regina, holding a hand out.

Regina was watching her tear into him with pride, although she knew she was equally tearing herself apart with every word. She didn't hesitate to take Emma's hand and step into view, looking at her tenderly.

'Heal me,' Emma mouthed before turning her head to glare at Hook.

Regina gladly touched Emma's wounded cheek and healed it, a tear falling from her eye when it disappeared completely.

"Kiss me," Emma whispered.

Regina's eyes widened for a moment, surprised at the request. She had heard the urgency, though, so she cupped her cheeks and kissed her tenderly.

Emma threw her arms around Regina, kissing her more heavily before breaking away to face the mirror again. "Never come back to Storybrooke. NEVER!" She flipped him off.

Regina took a moment to get over the shock of receiving a much heavier kiss than she'd expected. She noticed Emma flipping him the bird and decided to join her, glaring at the pirate murderously. "I swear, if I ever see you in my town again, pirate, I will fucking kill you if it is the last thing I do."

Emma enjoyed seeing his shocked expression for a few seconds, but she whimpered when it changed to one of anger. "Okay, make him go away now," she squeaked.

Regina gladly let her magic drop the connection. Emma sank down to the floor, sobbing. Regina knelt down next to her. "You did it, Emma! I'm so proud of you."

"I-I did it," Emma repeated. "It feels awful. I'm still so scared."

Regina held her. "I know. It's going to be hard, Emma, but you'll get through this in time." She gently kissed her forehead. "Baby steps. One day at a time."

Emma curled in on herself. "I-I think I need to be alone for a little while."

Regina let go of her. "Alright, that sounds like a good plan," she murmured. "Be free, Emma. I'll let you come to me whenever you're ready. I won't look for you. Just know I'm here for you, whatever you need and whenever you need it."

Emma nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. Then the only sign of her was white wisps of smoke.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

Regina ran to hug her son tight. "She did it, Henry! She left him!"

Henry hugged her back. "Ma left Hook?!" he asked ecstatically.

Regina nodded. "She did. But now she needs her space for a while, this adjustment won't be easy for her."

Henry nodded understandingly. "Okay. I'm just glad she did it. He won't come back, will he?"

"Not on my watch," Regina answered seriously.

"Mom, I know this might sound weird and completely hypocritical coming from me… But I wouldn't hate you if you killed him."

Regina put her hands on her hips. "Henry Daniel Mills! That is an absolute last resort. He's not worth sliding back into darkness for."

"He's not, but maybe Ma is."

Regina sighed wistfully. "Yeah..." She couldn't help but agree. He did have a point. "She really is."

Regina walked into Archie's office. "Well, I've had an eventful day."

Archie finished off a note and looked up at her. "Those seem common for you."

Regina nodded. "The intervention worked."

"The bad relationship one?"

"Indeed. Friend was able to break it off, even if it broke them in the process."

"I'm glad they were able to make a healthy choice."

Regina made her way over to the couch. "Friend will probably want to be upgraded to more than friend after they've had some time to pull themselves back together."

"Does 'Friend' have a name?" Archie asked curiously.

"Friend does have a name, but said name is confidential until they've pulled themselves together. I'm not going to spread their business around at such a fragile point. I just wanted you to be aware that you being the only person I'm dating right now might change somewhere in the vicinity of soon."

"That's fair." Archie could respect confidentiality. "You're a kind friend to them for that." He locked the notes away in his desk before moving to sit next to Regina, not leaving as much space between them as he had in the past.

Regina sighed. "I don't feel very kind. It's going to get worse for them before it gets better."

"But when it does get better, it will be better by huge proportions. Especially if they get to have you, too."

Regina smiled. "You're so sweet you're going to give me cavities."

"I just don't want you feeling badly." Archie took her hand, stroking her skin with his thumb. "You did a good thing, having a hand in helping them get out of a bad situation."

Regina's eyelids fluttered as she was enjoying his touch. She looked at him and was taken aback by the adoration she saw in his eyes. "Your hand feels nice and warm," she murmured. She didn't quite know what to do with the adoration she saw. Had she truly earned it?

Archie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Yours is soft."

"So, how was your day?" Regina asked, handing over the spotlight for a change.

"Well, my morning started with cleaning Pongo's mess from last night."

Regina smiled slightly at the memory. "I could have saved you the trouble."

"Perhaps, but I'm not used to magical shortcuts. Besides the fact that I spent time as a cricket, I'm just a regular guy. I do regular things. You don't need to spoil me too much."

Regina laughed. "Spoil you? I would hardly call saving your time spoiling you. I don't really use my magic often enough on anyone to be spoiling them. It's only been a few years since I got my magic back, so I am still readjusting to its presence. Part of that means using it on occasion, as too much pent up, unused magic is never a good thing. Especially when it's dark." After the second sentence, her tone gradually became more serious. "I do have more neutral and lighter magic in me as well, but at its roots it is still very dark, and those roots run very deep."

Archie ran his thumb across the skin of her hand again. "I didn't say to never use it, just not too much. I suppose you can spoil me a little bit." He offered her a smile.

Regina's eyebrow twitched as her lips spread into a coy smile. "Oh, really?" She leaned further into him. "And how shall I do that?"

Archie chuckled. "I have no idea. However you want?" He was glad he'd managed to get her in a more playful mood.

"However I want?" Regina repeated. "Tsk. Tsk. Now you're just playing with fire." She wasn't sure, though, what she could do that wouldn't be too big or too much, as there was no obvious usefulness for her magic at the present time. After a moment, Regina held up her free hand, palm up, then for the sass, put on a short firework show that was tiny enough to stay in the boundary of her hand.

"It seems to me you're the one playing with fire," Archie pointed out.

Regina smirked and let the sparks in her hand die after another moment. "I seem to have been lacking in ideas as well. Was it at least entertaining?"

"It was. Though I am curious how you don't get burned." Archie ran a finger along Regina's palm, intrigued that he felt no extra heat at all.

"That was an illusion. I wouldn't want to risk fireball magic in here. I also generally need to be angry before summoning those," Regina explained. "And you don't anger me. Not now. We certainly had our rows in the past, though that seems to fall under what we're deeming to be ancient history. Nothing is like it was then, the town's entire dynamic has changed."

"I like now." Archie stroked the back of his fingers along her cheek.

"I like now, too," Regina murmured. She leaned into his touch. "Last night made me very happy." She looked into his eyes.

"I noticed. Perhaps not very quickly, but I did notice. You were great company."

Regina smiled. She turned her head enough to kiss his knuckles before looking at him again. "I'm curious. Have you read The Divine Comedy?"

Archie nodded. "I have, yes, though something tells me it's not as often as you."

"If that were indeed how the afterlife worked, which Circle of Hell do you think I'd be put in?"

Archie's eyebrows drew together. "I'm not sure I want to answer that."

"You won't be in trouble. I'm just curious about what you think. I already have my own idea."

"Okay, then." Archie played with the ends of her hair while he thought. First he needed to recall what the circles were. "I'd say the Fifth Circle."

Regina nodded with a mirthful smile. "Aww, I'm touched you think so highly of me."

"Do I want to know where you think you'd end up?"

"Perhaps not, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm torn between either the Outer Ring of the Seventh Circle for murder or the Bolgia 4 of the Eighth Circle for sorcery."

Archie winced at the thought. "I don't like it." He wrapped his arms around her. "I'll just have to keep you up here in Storybrooke with me."

"It's only hypothetical, Archie." Nonetheless, Regina accepted and returned the hug.

"Well, it would hypothetically be sad for you to hypothetically end up there, Regina." Archie kissed the top of her head.

Regina felt cared about. "Aww," she whispered. She pulled back a bit before running a hand through his hair. "You're quite the affectionate man once you've chosen to date, aren't you?"

"Everyone who is dating deserves an affectionate partner," Archie stated. "That's part of what makes it dating."

"Many aren't fortunate to get what they deserve, then. I feel very lucky to receive it from you. Sometimes I wonder if you're even real."

"I promise I'm real." Archie cupped Regina's cheeks.

Regina covered his hands with her own. "How am I doing so far? I know I'm far from being the best at showing my affection, or doing so at appropriate levels."

"You're wonderful, Regina. You can be intense sometimes, but that's not a bad thing. You seem to have an idea of what you want and ambition comes with that. I'm only concerned by being unsure what our pace is. I don't want to overstep, though I also don't want to end up neglecting you."

"Honestly, I'm trying to take my time with this. I don't want to rush like I have in other relationships, but I'm also impatient, so part of me does want to move faster. You make me feel like a teenager, but I don't want to act like one."

Archie nuzzled Regina's nose with his own.