Author's Note: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I've been rather busy lately and inspiration has been striking for some other projects, so I've been working on those as well. But, I have made it a goal to finish this fic by the time the finale airs in May, so hopefully the updates will be more frequent from now on. You guys are still so wonderful for all your encouragement and reviews and alerts and favorites. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Somewhere in the midst of the crying, Mary Margaret had managed to guide Henry and Regina up from the floor and over to the sofa in the living room. Eventually, Regina had cried herself out, falling to sleep with her arms still clinging to Henry. He had gently extracted himself from her and now sat with Mary Margaret on the opposite couch, looking over at her.

"Henry," Mary Margaret whispered, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, "are you okay?"

Henry blinked and looked up at his teacher. "I don't know." He answered softly. "I always knew it was real but -"

"It's a lot to take in."

Henry nodded swiftly and looked back over at his mother. "Do you think she really means it? That she wants to find Emma? That she loves me?"

The second question was so quiet Mary Margaret barely heard it. "I'm sure of it, Henry." She assured quickly.

"Why did she do it, Miss Blanchard?" He asked her, still not understanding.

"I think that's something for her to tell you. When she's ready. I don't even know the whole story, but from what she told me," Mary Margaret shook her head. "She's not evil, Henry. She's just someone who was hurt repeatedly, by so many different people."

"Including you?"

Mary Margaret looked down at her hands. "Especially me." She might not remember her other life, but she still felt the guilt for what she had done, what she had caused Regina to do.

"Miss Blanchard?" Henry's voice wavered just a bit. "What if I bring Emma back and -" He couldn't finish his thought, but Mary Margaret knew what he wanted to ask.

"You said yourself that the book didn't say how Emma was going to break the curse."

"What if I'm right though? What if it destroys her? Miss Blanchard, I don't think that I can - she's my mom."

Mary Margaret pulled the little boy into a hug. "I know, Henry. I know. But I truly believe that there must be another way."

After a few long moments, Henry lifted his head from Mary Margaret's shoulder and looked back over at his mother. "Does she know about Emma?"

"She knows that you think Emma is my child. I told her that this morning. But I didn't tell her that you think Emma is also the one who will break the curse."

Henry nodded slowly. It was probably better that way. The fact that his mother was still willing to send him after Emma knowing that she was Snow's daughter was definitely a good thing, but he didn't know if she'd be so quick to want Emma back if she knew that she was destined to be the savior as well.

"Why do you think she wants Emma back? Why did she even look for her in the first place?" Henry wondered. "She was always trying to get rid of her. Now she's gone. Shouldn't she be happy?"

Mary Margaret offered up a small smile. "I don't think that your mom even knows the answer to that yet, Henry. At least not totally. But I think part of it is for you." Mary Margaret ruffled Henry's hair gently. "Your mom, no matter what she's done in the past, loves you. And she could tell how upset you were that Emma was gone. So I think your mom was trying to find her for you. At least partially."

Henry nodded. That made some sense. "And the other part?"

"The other part is I think your mom realized how much she missed Emma, too."

Henry's face scrunched in confusion. "She missed Emma? But mom hated Emma."

Mary Margaret chuckled just a bit. "I think Emma scared your mom. She was scared of losing you, of having you taken away. But I think that Emma also made your mom feel things that she hadn't felt in a long time."

Henry nodded. "Emma changed things. And then when she left, they went away."

Mary Margaret smiled at him. "Yes."

They were quiet for a long time then, as Henry studied his mother. Her cheeks were tear stained and she looked so small and helpless on the couch. She looked nothing like the Evil Queen from his book - the Evil Queen that she was supposed to be. And Henry realized with a suddenly clarity that it was because she wasn't. Not anymore.

August had been right. His mother had been the Evil Queen and Mary Margaret had been Snow White, but they weren't those people anymore. They'd changed. He'd been so focused on who they had been, that he hadn't stopped to look at who they were now.

"I really hurt her, didn't I?" He whispered.

Mary Margaret stroked her fingers through his hair. She wouldn't lie to him. "Yes."

A tear slipped down his cheek and he moved from the couch, kneeling down in front of his mother and putting his hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry, Mom." He whispered. "I'm really, really sorry."

When Regina finally woke up, it was to an empty room. Panic seized her almost immediately. Henry had come back, hadn't he? She hadn't just imagined it, she was sure of it. But if he had come back, where was he? And where was Mary Margaret? She was sure the teacher had been with her before, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down. But as Regina's eyes scanned the room, it reinforced what she already knew. Henry and Mary Margaret had finally realized exactly who she was and they'd left. She'd lost everything, just like she knew she would. She was alone once again.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Regina's head snapped up at Mary Margaret's voice, and she watched uncomprehendingly as the teacher and Henry entered the room. Mary Margaret was carrying a tray that contained three mugs as well as some sandwiches and Henry was carrying her laptop, already opened and in use.

"We were checking out some flights to California, Mom." Henry told her with a smile. "But I got hungry, so Miss Blanchard made us some dinner."

"I -" The tight, gripping fear in Regina's chest loosened when she heard Henry call her Mom.

"It's just some sandwiches and hot chocolate, nothing fancy." Mary Margaret shrugged.

Regina took in the tray and the two of them. "Thank you." She whispered and it was obvious that she was thanking them for more than just the dinner.

Henry scrambled up on the couch next to her, unceremoniously dropping the laptop onto her lap. "We found a couple different flights from Logan to LAX. I can take the bus back to Boston like before and then grab a taxi to the airport. The different airlines have unaccompanied minor policies and usually you have to have a guardian with you when you're dropped off, but I think if maybe we called ahead we could work around that. Then once I'm in LA, I can hire a car to take me to Malibu and -"

Regina felt her heart clench once again at the eagerness in Henry's voice. He'd already gotten started on his plans to leave her. Mary Margaret seemed to notice Regina's discomfort.

"Henry, why don't you let your Mom get awake a little first, okay? You're throwing a lot at her."

Henry frowned. "Sorry. I just figured the sooner I left, the sooner I could bring Emma back."

Bring Emma back. The words echoed in Regina's head and she reminded herself that that was the whole purpose of everything she'd done so far. To bring Emma Swan back to Storybrooke. Henry was eager to leave but it was so he could come back with Emma. She pulled in a breath and then smiled down at Henry.

"It's alright, Henry. Now, walk me through this all again, only slower this time."

It was well after Henry's bedtime until they got everything figured out and made all the necessary arrangements. Henry loved every second of the planning, talking openly about how this could be the new Operation Cobra. Regina and Mary Margaret weren't quite as enthusiastic as he was, but they got through everything with minimal fuss - at least on the outside.

The plan they finally settled on was that Mary Margaret would take Henry to the bus stop - Regina couldn't watch him climb on the bus - which would take him to Boston, just as he'd done when he went to find Emma the first time. There would be a driver that they'd hired waiting for him to take him to Logan airport. The driver would make sure that Henry got to the airline, where he would then be taken care of by members of the airline as part of the unaccompanied minors program. Once he got to LAX, another hired driver would meet him to take him to Emma's Malibu apartment. From there, it was up to him to get Emma back to Storybrooke.

He wanted to pack his bags that night, but Regina had nixed the plan until the next day. He needed his sleep to be well rested for the trip. She tucked him into bed, doing her best not to think about the fact that it could still very well be the last time she ever did it. "Henry," she whispered to him after kissing his forehead, "I need you to know, even if you don't believe me, that I love you. I love you more than anything else."

Henry grabbed his mother's hand and squeezed it tightly. He could see the truth in her eyes. His mother had difficulty loving anyone because of what she had done and who she had been, but she loved him as much as she possibly could. "I know, Mom. I believe you. And I love you, too."

Regina was on her third drink when Mary Margaret came into her office. She glanced up at the woman that she was still having trouble reconciling herself with. "Is he -?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "The bus got out of town without any problems. He knows the plan. He's going to be fine, Regina."

Regina blinked. "I know that. I know he'll be fine. Me, on the other hand..."

Mary Margaret knelt down in front of her and took the drink out of her hands before clasping them in her own. "You'll be fine, too. I'll be here with you until Henry gets back with Emma."

Regina pulled her hands out of Mary Margaret's grasp and stood up, moving around the room. "What are you going to do? Move in with me?" She asked sarcastically.

"If that's what you want." Mary Margaret replied easily. Regina spun around. "Regina, I told you, whatever happened between us before, I'm here for you now. I'm going to see this thing through with you to whatever its end may be. So if you want me to stay here with you, I will. If you want me to leave and not speak to you again, as much as I would hate that, I will."

Regina studied her for long moments and frowned. "I don't want either of those things. Perhaps we could find a middle ground?"

Mary Margaret smiled. "I think that can be arranged."

Emma was walking back to her apartment when something in a tiny bakery window caught her eye. It was a little cupcake with a blue star candle on it. She tried to make her feet continue on, but something stopped her. She found herself walking into the bakery.

"Hi, can I help you?" The perky woman behind the counter asked.

"Um, oh. I - that cupcake?" She pointed to the one in the window.

"Of course!" The woman moved over and pulled it out of the window, boxing it up carefully in a tiny white box. "Happy birthday."

Emma blinked. "It's, um, not my birthday."

"Oh. Sorry." The woman kept grinning. "It'll be five dollars."

Emma frowned at the price but shoved a bill into the woman's hand, turning and leaving the bakery. Her mind was spinning. What was it about the cupcake that had drawn her to it so? And why did the woman wishing her a happy birthday sound so familiar?

There were boxes scattered across the apartment when Emma walked into it. She'd decided to move on from California and was almost done packing. Her plan was to leave in the morning. She still needed to finish packing up her closet, but for tonight, she wanted to just relax.

She set the box down on the counter and pulled the cupcake out, staring at it. What was with this damn cupcake? With a frown, she pulled out a pack of matches and lit the candle.

"Well Swan," she said to herself, "congrats on moving once again. Make a wish."

She closed her eyes and thought about everything that had happened since she'd woken up in the hospital. More than anything, she just wanted to feel right again.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and blew out the candle.

A knock sounded at the door and her eyes flew open.

Henry stood outside the door of the apartment that, according to the note card he'd been clutching since he climbed on the bus in Storybrooke, belonged to Emma. The hard part was over. He'd survived the bus ride and met the driver and navigated the airport and handled the flight and found the other driver. This should be the easy part now. All he had to do was knock.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. What if this wasn't where Emma was? What if she had moved on already? Or what if she had never been here at all? What if this was all some sort of trick or scheme? He didn't think he could handle the disappointment.

But he thought of Miss Blanchard's assurances on the way to the bus stop and his mother's arms clutching him tightly before letting him go. It wasn't a trick. Emma was here. Emma was here and they needed her back in Storybrooke. He could bring her back. He was the only one who could. He just needed to knock.

Mustering up all his courage, he lifted his hand and knocked.

For a full minute, nothing happened and Henry felt his stomach churn. Then, finally, the door opened and his heart sank for a moment as he took in short blonde hair. But then his eyes fell to the woman's face and they widened as he realized that it was Emma. Her hair was shorter, but it was absolutely her.

"Emma!" He breathed out, throwing his arms around her and clinging to her tightly.

Emma pulled the door open, taking in the sight of Henry standing before her. She blinked once, twice, three times, waiting for him to disappear as he did every time she thought she saw him. But he didn't disappear no matter how much she blinked, and then she heard his voice calling her name and felt his arms as they wrapped around her and held tightly.

For a brief moment, she had a flash of opening another door to find Henry on the other side, but it faded quickly. "Henry." She breathed his named as she hugged him back.

And then she realized that this was real, that Henry was really there, in her apartment, across the country from where he needed to be. She pulled back out of the embrace suddenly. "Henry? Kid, what are you doing here?"

"Emma." He smiled at her. "I had to come see you. I missed you!"

"You had to come - how did you get here? Does your mother know you're here?"

Henry quickly looked down at the ground. "I took a bus. And then a taxi. And an airplane. And another taxi." He didn't respond to Emma's other question, knowing that by doing so it would seem as though Regina didn't know where he was and Emma wouldn't be able to tell that he was verbally lying to her if he said that she didn't.

"Henry!" Emma's voice raised in pitch as it sank in exactly what he'd done. "You did all of that by yourself?"

Henry shrugged. "I had to come see you."

"How did you even find me?"

Henry shrugged again. "It was pretty easy." It wasn't a lie, it had been easy for him to find her. It was his mother that had done all of the work.

"Jesus, Henry." Emma sighed. "You can't just fly across the country to find me and not tell your mother! She's going to be frantic. She's probably got an APB out on you. She'll have me arrested for kidnapping!"

"I doubt it." Henry replied easily, moving past her into the apartment. "Do you have any juice?"

The words struck her and Emma spun to look at him. "Henry -"

"Why are there boxes everywhere?" Henry frowned as he took in the sight. "Are you moving?"

"I - yes, tomorrow." Emma replied distractedly. "Henry, has this happened before?"

Henry's face scrunched. "Has what happened before?"

"You showing up on my doorstep? Barging in and asking for juice?"

Henry's eyes lit up. "You remember!"

"No." Emma shook her head. "No - I mean - not really. I don't think. It's just these weird flashes. But -" she scrubbed a hand over her face, "Henry, you have to go back to Storybrooke. You can't just run away because you're unhappy." Pot, meet kettle, a voice sounded in her head, but she quickly shook it off. "I already told you before you left -"

"It's not the same without you!" Henry protested. "We need you, Emma. I need you." He looked at her. "And I think you need us too."

"Henry. There isn't a curse. This isn't a fairy tale." She sighed.

"It's not about the curse. Not really. It's about us needing you back in Storybrooke for things to feel right." Henry told her as he moved over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. He looked around for glasses, but finding none, untwisted the lid and drank straight from the carton.

"Henry!" Emma scolded, even as her mind played over the words 'to feel right'.

Henry just shrugged and smiled. "You know, since you're already all packed up -"

"No." Emma shook her head. She was already screwed up enough. She couldn't go back down that road. She'd given Henry up ten years ago and she couldn't just waltz back into his life now. "Henry, we are not doing this. I am not going back there. I am going to drive you to the airport tomorrow morning and you are getting on a flight back to Storybrooke. Without me."

Henry looked up at her, raising an eyebrow defiantly in a move that was pure Regina. "I won't go back without you. I'll just run away somewhere else and no one will ever find me."

"Henry!"

"I made it this far on my own. I can do it, Emma. You know I can."

"Jesus." Emma breathed out again, shaking her head. The voice in the back of her head reminded her that this was definitely her kid - running away seemed to be his forte too.

Henry tilted his head as he looked at her. "You're already packed." He reminded her again. "You can drive me back to Storybrooke, make sure I get back safe, and then go wherever."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "So I drive you back and you let me leave? You don't try to make me stay?"

Henry nodded. "I want you to stay, but I won't try to make you." Again, it was the truth. He was counting on his mother being the one to make Emma stay this time.

"We need to call your mother. Let her know you're okay and that I'm bringing you back."

"No."

"Henry, it'll be at least two days driving time to get back. She'll be going crazy. We need to let her know you're okay."

"She'll be fine." Henry protested, but Emma was already scooping up her purse and grabbing the boy by the hand.

"We are going to call your mother. Then we are coming back here and you are going straight to bed. Tomorrow I will start driving you back to Storybrooke, where you will stay because that is where you belong. End of discussion."

Trailing behind her, Henry just smiled. Storybrooke might be where he belonged, but it was where Emma belonged, too.

"Hi Mom, it's Henry. I wanted to let you know that I'm okay. I'm in California with Emma. She's going to drive me back tomorrow, so I should be home in two days. Operation Cobra is a go. Love you. Bye!"

Regina replayed the message for what was probably the thousandth time, taking in every inflection in Henry's voice as he spoke. He sounded so chipper at the beginning, his voice high and happy. But when he spoke about Operation Cobra, he dropped his voice down to a whisper, probably so Emma didn't hear him. He had left the message on the home answering machine while she had been out getting dinner with Mary Margaret. She'd cried the first time she heard it (and all the subsequent times after that).

She hit the replay button again, staring at the clock while she did. Time being frozen had never been more of a curse than at this minute. It had been the longest three days of Regina's life, of that she was sure. The nights weren't quite as bad because Mary Margaret had been true to her word and done everything she could to help distract her from taking her out for dinners (where Ruby had actually dropped a full tray of food when she caught sight of them sitting together) to bringing over ice cream and ridiculous movies, but the days when the other woman was at school and Regina was left alone either in her huge empty home or her equally empty office at City Hall were pure hell.

Every minute she spent alone was a reminder that this was the life she'd cursed herself to. There was no happy ending here - not for her or for anyone else. In taking away the happy endings of the others, she'd taken away her own happy ending, too. She'd never truly be happy because the people that could make her that way could leave - had left. And even though she knew in her head that they were coming back, in her heart she was well aware of the fact that even if they did, they could still just leave again.

"Are they back yet?" Mary Margaret's voice carried into the room even before she entered.

"No." Regina sighed, her fingers quickly pressing the button to stop the answering machine message.

Mary Margaret offered her a small smile as she came into the room. She'd already heard the message playing, but pretended that she hadn't. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. It's a long drive."

Regina nodded but said nothing.

"So, I thought that I could make us dinner tonight. Is there anything in particular that you're hungry for?"

Regina shook her head. Her stomach was churning and she had no appetite.

"Okay." Mary Margaret spoke softly. "Well, I grabbed some groceries on the way over, so I'll just go get started and call you when dinner's ready."

Regina looked up at her and found herself once again saying the words that she never thought she'd say to the other woman. "Thank you, Mary Margaret."

Spending two days driving across country in a car with someone could be a daunting thing. Being cooped up that long together could lead to fights and fits of anger. It could also lead to supreme awkwardness if the person you were riding with was the child you had given up for adoption 10 years ago. Or at least that's what Emma thought it would be like.

But she had to admit that she was wrong. It had actually been a really fun trip. They had sung along to the radio and laughed and joked around. Henry, it turned out, was a really fun kid when he wasn't talking about curses and the fact that his mother was evil. He was smart - way smarter than Emma had been at that age - but not in a smarmy kind of way. And he was so imaginative and inquisitive.

They had talked about their various likes and dislikes and Henry had filled her in on his life growing up in Storybrooke. She noticed that he didn't mention the curse at all and Emma wondered if her talk with him before she'd left had actually sunk in. He questioned her about what she had done since leaving Storybrooke and why she had cut her hair.

They stopped only to grab fast food, which Henry had wolfed down as though he'd never eaten it before in his life - and maybe he hadn't - and once during the first night for Emma to catch a few hours of sleep. She had considered getting a hotel room, but Henry looked peaceful enough curled up in the passenger seat with his head on her pillow and one of her leather jackets wrapped around him like a blanket. It wasn't the first night that Emma slept in her car and it actually felt comforting to her in a strange way - something familiar and tangible after weeks of confusion.

Now, as the hours and miles wound down, Emma felt her heart beginning to grow heavy. She'd enjoyed being able to spend time with Henry like this and soon it would all be over. Even though she still knew she wasn't ready to be a mother by any stretch of the imagination, she also knew that she would miss the kid terribly after she dropped him off.

As they drove past the 'Welcome To Storybrooke' sign, Emma realized that perhaps that was why she'd stuck around the first time. It was easy to leave when there were no attachments keeping you somewhere. But once you formed attachments, everything got infinitely harder. She'd made it a point in her life to not get attached to anyone, not even to Henry when he'd been placed in her arms as a newborn. But now, she'd broken that rule big time.

She had grown attached to Henry and, if the feeling that had settled over her when they crossed the border was any indication, this little town. Leaving the first time had been easy, but Emma had a feeling that the same would not be true this time.