It had started to rain by the time Emma pulled up in front of Regina's house. She had already been driving aimlessly around Storybrooke for a few hours. It was time for her to suck it up and deal with whatever this weirdness was.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to Regina. Is Henry asleep? Would like to talk to you.
We can talk, Regina texted back.
I'm right outside.
She climbed out of the car and started walking up the door just as Regina opened it.
"That was quick," she said.
Emma just shrugged. "I've been driving around for a bit."
Regina gave her a worried look. "Come on in."
Emma dragged herself through the door, wiping a few drops of water off her leather coat as Regina closed it behind her.
"Why don't we talk in the study?" Regina suggested as she led Emma into the wood-paneled room and shut the door. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Do you have something strong?"
Regina nodded and brought over two tumblers of amber liquor, handing one to Emma. The women drank in silence as Emma warmed up, thankful that Regina had a fire going already. Emma started to look around at the shelves - something she hadn't really paid attention to when she was in here the first time on the night that she dropped Henry off.
"You have an amazing collection of books."
"Thank you," Regina replied. "But please don't tell me you're stopping by this late to talk to me about my book collection."
Emma took a drink from her glass to give herself some extra courage, because she was going to need it. "Actually, I'm here to talk to you about one book in particular."
Regina put her glass down and leaned over, a curious look on her face. "I'm listening," she said with curiosity.
"It's about Henry's storybook."
"Is this about the curse?"
"Yea, it is."
A huge smile spread across Regina's face."You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to remember."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
The woman gave her a perplexed look. "The curse. You finally remembered we were cursed." Regina stared at her, and then slumped back a bit. "You don't actually remember the curse, do you?"
Emma could feel her hands trembling as she stared at Regina, realizing just how disappointed the woman seemed to be that she had no idea what was going on.
"Are you-" Emma swallowed down her emotions. "Are you telling me the curse is real?" she asked quietly.
Regina sat up and looked directly at her. "The curse is real," she said with a small smile on her lips. "And I guess Gold really did copy my curse, even down to me being the only one who remembers."
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked incredulously.
"Gold was the man who cast the curse," she said. "And you don't remember it even though you were there."
"I was where?"
"Main St.," Regina said. "You were standing right next to me as we used our magic to try and stop it."
Emma scoffed. "I don't know magic."
"Oh, believe me. The Savior knows magic."
"The what?" Emma exclaimed. "You've lost your mind. I'm no one's savior."
Regina just shook her head. "I was really hoping you were just pretending all this time and that sooner or later, you would come clean and we could talk about what happened." She looked down, her voice quiet. "You were the only one I thought would understand what I was going through, and you can't even do that."
She turned and gave Emma a weak smile before standing up and walking past her towards a large mahogany desk behind them. She opened a drawer and pulled out Henry's storybook, setting it down on the coffee table in front of them as she took a seat next to Emma.
"So what made you think the curse was real?" she asked.
Emma stared at the book, then back up at her. Rather than saying anything, she instinctively reached inside her coat to grab the pieces of paper she had stashed inside the pocket and laid them on top of the storybook. Regina smiled and picked them up.
"I wondered what you had written on those," she said as she read them. "This one in particular." She held up the piece of paper Killian had found in his coat pocket. "I saw the smile Hook gave you after he read it and stuffed it back in his pocket."
"Hook?" Emma asked.
"Hook. You know, Captain Guyliner?" Regina said before rolling her eyes. "Right, you don't remember that you had a one-handed pirate for a boyfriend."
Regina handed the pieces of paper back to her, and Emma gently put them back in the safe spot inside her coat.
"You need to read this," Regina instructed, pointing to the book on the table.
"I already have," Emma said. "Henry loves that thing."
Regina shook her head in reply. "This isn't Henry's book," she explained. "He has an old version of the book. This is the new one, the one with the stories Henry wrote."
"The stories Henry wrote?" Emma asked incredulously.
"Just read the book, Emma," Regina said. "I'm going to bed. Stay here as long as you need to."
With that, Regina got up and walked over to the fireplace. With a flick of her wrist, the fire went out. At least that's what Emma thought she saw. It had already been a long night, and there was no way in hell that Regina put out a fire with magic or something.
"Good night, Emma," Regina said as she headed for the door. "Henry will be up early tomorrow as usual, but let's wait until after he's left for school before we talk about this again."
Emma nodded before watching Regina walk out the door. Then it was just her and the book.
The book. This was silly, crazy, even ridiculous. Emma felt like she still wasn't alone in the room, like the book had a personality of its own that was keeping her company. It was as if it was a living, breathing thing, which wasn't even possible. Her hands slid along the cover, the gold letters pressed into the dark brown leather. It was so strange and unusual. So different and yet familiar.
Her thoughts were broken by the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see Killian's name flash up on the screen. She already ran enough tonight. It was time to stop running, even if for a little bit.
"Hey," she said quietly into the phone.
"Hi." She could hear the concern and sweetness in his voice - two things that were missing a few hours ago when they yelled at each other. "I was just calling to see if you were alright."
"I'm fine."
He let out a breath so loud that she could hear it through the phone. "I was just worried about you," he said. "Are you going to be home soon?"
She stared down at the thick book in front of her. "I'm actually going to stay at Regina's tonight, but I promise I'll be back tomorrow."
The silence between them seemed to stretch out for hours before Killian finally spoke again. "Emma?" he said quietly. "I'm sorry about earlier."
She could feel the tension seeping from her shoulders. "I'm sorry, too."
"OK," he said. "Well, I'll let you go then. And call me if you need anything."
"I will."
"I just-" He paused, and Emma hung on, waiting for whatever he was about to say next. "Good night, Emma."
"Good night."
As she hung up the phone, she would never admit that she was hoping he would say something else to her. An "I miss you" or "I love you" would've been… Well, it would be hard to explain the feeling. Instead, she just told him good night and hung up.
Emma dropped the phone on the table and picked the storybook up, hoping that there could be some sort of answers to her questions within its covers. Because right now, Emma had a lot of questions.
She turned to the first page with an illustration of a woman who looked like Regina waking up in her bedroom and started reading.
xxx xxx xxx
The alarm on Emma's phone jolted her awake, sending the open storybook tumbling to the floor. She immediately shut off the loud alarm and started looking around, trying to get her bearings and figure out where exactly she was.
The pain in her neck wasn't helping.
Emma sat up on the sofa as the room came into focus. Regina's office. She sighed, somewhat thankful that this time it wasn't a jail cell.
Then she spotting the storybook she had dumped onto the floor. After reading it way into the night, and even working on only a few hours of sleep, there was no denying it. Just like the rest of this town, Emma Swan was cursed.
She got up and slid the book into the desk drawer she had seen Regina pull it out of the night before. Then she grabbed her coat and dashed into the hall bathroom, hoping she could straighten herself up enough to make her look presentable.
The house was quiet downstairs, but she could hear voices and movement on the second floor, including one distinctly belonging to Henry. Even though she had been reunited with her son only a few months ago, she would recognize that morning whine anywhere.
Emma started working in the kitchen, getting a fresh pot of coffee brewing. The coffee maker beeped in approval just as Henry and Regina came bounding down the stairs.
"Mom!"
Henry threw his arms around Emma so quickly she barely had time to react, but her natural instinct to hug him back soon kicked in as she ruffled Henry's unruly hair.
"Hey, kid," she replied. "You almost ready for school?"
"Yea," he said. "Although why are you here?"
She chuckled. "Always straight to the point, aren't you?" she asked. "I wanted to talk to your mom about some things and figured I would get here early so I could say goodbye before you left for school."
Henry gave her a warm smile and grabbed the fruit bar Regina had given him. "It was a good surprise."
"And now it's over," Regina said curtly. "So get going before you miss the bus."
Henry gave Emma a quick peck on the cheek before running over and doing the same for Regina. Then he sprinted out of the kitchen, followed quickly by the front door slamming behind him.
"Coffee?" Regina asked.
"Yes, please," Emma said as she sank down on one of the stools along the kitchen counter.
The mayor poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to the sheriff. "So long night?"
Emma gave her a weak smile and drank her coffee. "I read most of the book before I fell asleep with it."
"Most of it?"
Emma shrugged. "I honestly skipped some of it. It just got too depressing."
Regina's eyebrows went up in surprise behind her coffee cup. "Like what?" she asked.
Emma stared down into her mug. Where could she even start? Maybe the part where her parents hadn't really abandoned her. Or the part where everyone was miserable when the curse was first enacted. Or maybe it was the fact that she had fallen in love with someone and didn't remember any of their relationship.
"So just to be clear, Killian Jones, my roommate, is a cursed version of Captain Hook?"
Regina nodded.
"And we went to the Underworld to save him after he saved us?"
The mayor shrugged. "I know it all sounds far-fetched, but it's true," she said.
"I guess that's what bothers me the most."
Regina scoffed. "Why? Because it's hard to believe that this is all actually a curse?"
Emma shook her head. "If the curse is real, that means that Killian loves me and my parents love me, and I don't remember any of it." She looked up at Regina, hoping to get some sort of guidance. "How can I not remember any of that?"
Regina took a deep breath and walked around the kitchen island, taking a seat next to Emma on the stools. "I understand that more than you know," she said quietly. "I loved Henry and Robin, and I had finally started to become a better person. No one remembers that now."
A better person? That was another part of the story that had bothered Emma. She drank some more, hoping to build up the courage to ask what she wanted to ask next.
"With the first curse, the one you enacted, everyone was miserable."
Regina adverted her eyes, instead watching her fingers drift over her mug handle. "They were, and that was because of me, but things changed," she explained. "Even I changed."
"What happened?"
She looked up and smiled at Emma. "You happened."
"I happened?"
"You were this town's savior, and then you became mine," she explained. "You believe in people who don't believe in themselves. That's why all this is so frustrating."
Emma gave her a skeptical look. "What do you mean?"
"It's like the first curse, Emma. You believe in other people, but the only way you can break the curse is if you believe in yourself." Regina poked Emma in the shoulder. "You have to believe in you."
Emma got up and walked over to the sink to put her empty mug down. It was a good distraction from everything going on in her head. How could she be the savior if she was having trouble simply believing in all this? And really, if she was being honest with herself, she was no savior. There was no reason to think otherwise.
"You know, I've already tried to break the curse and it didn't work."
"What are you talking about?"
Emma turned around to face Regina and leaned against the counter. "After I found those pieces of paper, I kissed Henry. You came to pick him up in the morning, and I kissed him on the forehead and nothing happened."
Regina clasped her hands together on the counter. "Maybe it's someone else. Have you um…" Her voice trailed off and she looked up to give Emma a nervous smile. "What about Killian?"
Emma scoffed. "I've kissed him," she said dismissively. "Alot. Nothing happened. Well, I mean, nothing happened curse wise."
Regina's hands went up. "Please don't say anymore," she said quickly. "Let's just leave it at the fact that I know you know now, and I'll see if there's something we can do to jumpstart your whole savior magic."
"Magic?"
The mayor rolled her eyes. "Yes, you have magic. Not that you can use it right now since you don't believe you have magic," she said.
She stood up and took her mug to the sink, then gently placed her hand on Emma's arm. "Are you going to be OK?"
"I'm the savior," Emma said sarcastically. "So no pressure."
"Emma, I'm serious."
Emma stepped away from Regina and walked over to grab her coat from the kitchen counter. "I'll be fine," she said. "I just need some time."
Regina nodded solemnly and followed Emma as the two women headed for the front door. But there was a question still nagging Emma.
"Regina?", she asked, looking up at the mayor. "If everyone was miserable because you made them miserable after that first curse, why are people happy now?"
"What do you mean?"
"So in the book about your curse, everyone had to pay Mr. Gold rent, but no one pays rent now. People are doing jobs they like, and they have relationships with people they love. Everything here is nice. Everyone here is happy. So how did that happen if this villain from the book enacted the new curse?"
Regina smiled. "I can't tell you how frustrating it is to see you be the savior even when you don't realize you're the savior," she said. "When Gold's curse came through, we tried to stop it. Did you get to that part of the book?"
"Yea," she said. "But if the book is right, we didn't succeed."
The mayor shook her head. "I told you that day to think positive thoughts, and you did. You used light magic to try and stop the curse," she explained. "And while it may not have been strong enough to stop it, it was strong enough to prevent the curse from doing what it was supposed to. Which, of course, once again makes you the savior."
That was quite the explanation and there was no way Emma had that kind of power in her. "I'm not the sunshine-and-rainbows type you're making me out to be."
Regina walked up to Emma and looked her right in the eyes. "What did I tell you about believing in yourself, Emma?" Then she headed to the front door with Emma following her. "I'll work on our problem and in the meantime, see if you can get some work done on it as well."
Emma nodded and quietly walked out without another word to Regina. She headed down the front walkway and climbed into her car still parked out on the street. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent two text messages. The first one was to David to let him know she wouldn't make it to the sheriff's station until after lunch. The second one was to Killian, letting him know she was on her way home.
xxx xxx xxx
As soon as she opened the door, Emma was hit by the smell of Killian's famous cinnamon waffles. She couldn't help but smile as she hung her coat on the wall. But the smile faded a bit when she realized what she needed to do: tell Killian the truth. And the best way to do that was to start with the pieces of paper from Granny's.
For as nervous as she thought she would be, as soon as Killian turned around and smiled at her, she couldn't help but walk over to him.
"Hey, Swan," he murmured as her put his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
This is what she had missed this past week as Killian walked around in a funk. She missed being close to him and just having him hold her. She missed this connection that they had and then lost.
Emma pulled away and looked at him, her hand instinctively reaching for his cheek, her thumb tracing the scar there. She wondered where he really got it, if it came from him horsing around with Liam when they were kids or if it was from his days as a pirate. Emma knew it sounded crazy and wild, but as she thought about Killian being Captain Hook in some other life, it just seemed like a natural, normal idea.
"So," he said, clearing his throat as he pulled away with a shy smile. "Do you want some waffles? I promise they're fresh."
"I need to talk to you first."
Killian put his hand up to stop her from continuing. "Before you go on, I want to explain last night," he said, taking a deep breath. "I was a bit hurt and I didn't handle it well, I know. It was just frustrating that you told me you loved me in that note and then never acknowledged it."
"I didn't know."
"And that's my fault," he said. "I should've said something when I found your note."
"No, I mean, I didn't know about the note." Emma sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but she needed to do this for him. "You know how Henry thinks there's this curse on the town?"
Killian scoffed. "What does that have to do with anything?"
She swallowed down the emotion bubbling up in her throat. "I need to explain some things to you," she said quietly. "But just understand, I can only tell you the basics?"
Killian stared at her before nodding. Emma pulled out the pieces of paper, laying them on the kitchen counter and watched as he leaned forward to read them. Emma could see his jaw go slack, realization washing over him as he read each word on the papers.
"I belong in Storybrooke/
My parents are Mary Margaret and David/
Henry is my son/
Kiss him, break curse"
"I love Killian Jones"
"Emma Swan loves you"
She moved closer to him, her hand gently reaching for his as she leaned into him. "Killian, the curse is real."
