A/N: please imagine Emma and Regina are alone when Henry storms off after they're discussing the book in this episode.
"Well, we officially have a teenager on our hands," Emma said as Henry's large feet thudded heavily up the stairs, along the corridor, and then his bedroom door slammed shut.
"He gets it from you," Regina said at once.
"What?" Emma exclaimed with a bark of laughter. "Yeah, right. Like you weren't a prissy little princess when you were a teenager."
Regina narrowed her eyes. "Of course I wasn't," she said. "I was brought up far better than that."
"Oh come on," Emma chuckled. "Being a teenager is nothing to do with how you're brought up. It's in every teenager's DNA to be a moody, grumpy, generally annoying person for a few years. Even future queens."
"Well clearly you didn't get the memo about that behaviour ending when you become an adult."
"Ouch," Emma said, clutching her chest in mock agony. "Believe me, if you think I'm moody now, you should have met me when I was sixteen."
"So maybe I did your parents a favour by casting the curse," Regina quipped. "Saved them years of grief.
Emma's face fell at once. Regina gasped when she realised what she had said.
"Emma, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."
The blonde shook her head and walked over to the kitchen island where the newly written pages were still lying. She picked them up and seemed to be examining them carefully but Regina knew she was just avoiding looking at the older woman.
"Emma, I'm sorry," Regina repeated. "I'm sure your parents would give anything to have endured your teenage years. I know I stole time away from your family and I'll forever be sorry for that."
"I know," Emma said, not looking up.
Regina walked over to stand beside Emma, peering over her shoulder at the page. It depicted Snow and Charming in the Underworld version of Granny's, the familiar script accompanying the drawing.
"They'd have loved you regardless of what you did, you know. We'd love Henry even if he went on a killing spree, wouldn't we?"
"I highly doubt he's going to do that," Emma pointed out. "Especially in the Underworld. I mean, they're already dead."
"You know what I'm saying," Regina said. "Your parents loved you for twenty-eight years, Emma. They might not have been truly aware of it but even the curse couldn't fully erase their feelings for you. That love, that maternal and paternal love for you, it was always there. And since they've found you, I'm sure you've all been making up for lost time. Stolen time, I suppose."
"Regina, stop," Emma said, turning towards the brunette. "You didn't steal time from us."
"But I did," Regina said. "I cast that curse, I made your parents put you in that cupboard."
"Regina, it's not your fault," Emma said, more firmly. "Yes you cast that curse but you didn't force my parents to put me in a magical tree. I know why they did it and I don't blame them for the first years of my life. I don't blame you either, by the way. It wasn't the greatest start but it worked out alright, didn't it? Plus they really were saved some grief by missing out on my horror years."
"How bad were you?" Regina asked.
"Awful," Emma said simply. "I got kicked out of six foster homes in two years. Smoking, drinking, drugs, shoplifting. I got caught having sex with a guy in my foster parents bed once. That was particularly bad."
Regina raised her eyebrows. Nothing like that had ever happened with Henry nor any child in Storybrooke. And of course the Enchanted Forest also had only limited ways to rebel.
"Wow," Regina said. "Let's hope Henry doesn't pick up any of those habits."
"I'm sure he won't," Emma reassured. "I mean, he's not stupid enough to start smoking and we give him more than enough pocket money so he has no need to shoplift. And I'd hope he's too young to drink or do drugs just yet. Plus I don't think there's anyone dealing in Storybrooke any more, anyway."
"Any more?" Regina repeated. "We had a resident drug dealer."
Emma nodded. "Yeah but we found out and he scarpered before we could arrest him."
"Who?"
"Will Scarlet," Emma said. "Hadn't you wondered why he hasn't been around lately?"
It was only when Emma mentioned Robin's friend that Regina realised she hadn't seen him in a while. Clearly the man hadn't made much of an impression on her when he had been in town. And since he had turned out to be a drug dealer, Regina couldn't say he was going to be missed.
"Hang on," Regina said suddenly. "You did drugs?"
Emma blushed and Regina wondered if she had sounded too judgemental. After all, it wasn't as if Emma had had good role models when she was growing up. It was unsurprising to learn she had made some bad choices.
"I smoked pot a lot," Emma shrugged. "Tried a few other things but didn't really like them. Plus they're expensive. I couldn't afford a habit like cocaine or meth."
Regina didn't know how to answer that so she said nothing. Emma too was silent, thinking back to her teenage years and all the dumb things she did. She really hoped Henry wouldn't make the same mistakes. She doubted it. After all, he had been brought up impeccably by Regina and Emma hoped her own entrance into his life a few years before had also been a good influence.
"Should we go up to talk to him?" Regina asked.
"No," Emma said at once. "He wants to be alone. Trust me, you don't want to poke the bear."
"What happened when the teenage Emma bear was poked?" Regina asked.
"I threw my alarm clock at a foster father once," Emma recalled. "I'd been asked to do the dishes and stormed off in refusal. When he came to find me, I grabbed the first thing I could reach and lobbed it across the room. It hit him in the shoulder, I think. They didn't send me away though. It was only after they caught me siphoning gas out of their car to sell to my friends that I moved on."
"Oh … wow," Regina said. "Imaginative."
"I needed the cash," Emma replied.
There was a long pause before Regina spoke.
"I borrowed my mother's sapphire necklace to wear to a ball without asking her when I was fifteen. She found out and locked me in my bedroom for a week. I didn't do anything else which could possibly get me in trouble after that."
"Except date Daniel," Emma pointed out.
Regina's lips quirked slightly at the realisation. "Yes, except being with Daniel. He was worth the risk."
Emma reached over and squeezed Regina's hand. She knew her friend had gone to search for Daniel's grave and discovered he had moved on. The fact that the gravestone had been knocked over was a good thing, of course. It meant Daniel was in a better place. But it also meant Regina didn't get the opportunity to speak to him again and she knew deep down the brunette would have loved to have done so.
"I never told you that I kinda had a vision or a meeting or, I don't know, something, with Neal on our way to the Underworld," Emma said.
"What?" Regina frowned. "Neal's here?"
"No," Emma replied. "He's in a better place too. Like Daniel. But the point is he knew I was coming down here. He could see me, and Henry. The people we love, they're watching over us, Regina. They're still a part of our lives, even if they're not in the same place. I'm sure Daniel's watching over you right now, from wherever he is."
Regina smiled sadly. "I hope so."
Emma opened her mouth to speak but just then they heard footsteps from above, the unmistakable heavy gait of their son. Seconds later, Henry appeared in the kitchen.
"I'm hungry," he mumbled. "We got any food?"
Regina and Emma exchanged sideways glances before Regina moved towards the fridge and began to pull out ingredients for lunch.
A/N: drugs/drinking/shoplifting/smoking is bad, kids. And don't have legal-age sex in your parents bed, that's gross!
