Chapter Twenty One

Emma couldn't tell who was more nervous to cross back over the town line into Storybrooke - herself or Regina - but as the line on the road appeared in the distance, she knew it was time. Regina would go back under the spell, and if they were lucky, she would cross the town line just a little older than she had been when they left this morning.

It occurred to Emma a little too late that there was a distinct possibility that too much time had passed and that the heart-broken Regina of this morning might already have been replaced with a very angry budding Evil Queen with control over her own magic.

But, it was a risk they were going to have to take, and she hoped that Regina was right - all she needed was some love and reassurance to get through this phase of the spell.

As the line approached, Emma turned to Regina. "Ready?"

Regina simply nodded, and turned to look at Henry in the back seat. "I'll see you soon, Henry. I love you."

"I love you, too," Henry replied, forcing a smile, but Emma didn't miss the way he hugged the bear they'd just built a little tighter, and she knew he was just as nervous as they were, and putting on a brave face for both of their sakes.

"I'm ready, Emma."

Emma nodded. "Okay. It's gonna be okay, trust me."

"Just drive. I… I do trust you."

Emma took a deep breath and stared intently on the road ahead as they crossed over the line. She could feel the magic in the car the moment they crossed over, and she stopped immediately, and turned to look at Regina again, with apprehension.

Regina's hair was long again, and she stared out the windshield for a moment, blinking as she adjusted to the sudden change, before turning back to face Emma.

"Did we already go? Did it work?"

"You tell me. Where are you right now? What do you remember?"

Regina furrowed her brow as she tried to recall - Emma knew the memories came to her a little hazy at first - then she let out a little gasp. "I married the King," she said. "I… oh God, I pushed my mother through a looking glass. Emma!"

"It's okay. That was all a long time ago, remember? The King's gone, and you're safe here."

"Look," Henry piped up from the back seat, leaning forward to show Regina the bear they'd built. "You can't remember right now, but we went to Build-a-Bear!"

Regina smiled as she took the bear from Henry. "You remembered!"

"Of course I remembered, Ki-" Emma stopped herself, realizing that 'Kid' really wasn't going to work for Regina anymore. "It was important to you, of course I remembered."

Regina hugged the bear against her. "Thank you. He's just a nice as Henry's bear."

Emma smiled and shook her head as she started driving back toward the mansion, realizing that Regina had every intention of adopting this teddy bear as her own. She supposed Henry wouldn't mind - he was a teenager afterall - but she couldn't help but smirk imagining how Regina would take it once the spell was completely broken.

For the most part, the evening seemed to go well enough, better than Emma had expected, really, as the three of them shared a quiet dinner and settled in on the couch to watch some TV and relax. It wasn't until later, after Henry had gone to bed, that Regina spoke up.

"It really was her fault, you know."

"What?" Emma asked, confused.

"Snow's. I told her not to tell and she couldn't listen. Daniel would still be alive if it weren't for her."

Emma drew in a deep breath and grabbed the remote to turn off the TV, before turning to Regina. "Regina… she was just a kid. She thought she was helping. She didn't know any better."

"I knew how to listen to adults by the age of ten. She grew up thinking actions didn't have consequences because they never did for her. I paid the price. Daniel paid the price. And it's not fair."

Despite the unconcealed anger in Regina's voice, Emma could see the distinct look of pain and heartbreak in her eyes, and she knew that Regina was teetering on a ledge right now. In the past, she's toppled over into the darkness, and as much as that worried her now, Emma had made a promise to help her do better this time, and she intended to keep it.

Emma kept her voice steady as she responded, despite the anxiety she was already starting to feel. This wasn't a hypothetical situation anymore: Regina was in the verge of descending into her Evil Queen days all over again, and Emma knew her mother's life would be at risk.

"Regina, that was-"

"Don't you dare tell me that was a long time ago!" Regina snapped, cutting her off. "You keep saying that but for me, it might as well be happening right now!"

"You're right," Emma agreed, nodding slowly. "And I know it feels fresh and raw, but it's not happening now. Do you know what happened when we crossed the town line today?"

Regina shook her head in confusion. "You know I don't remember any of that. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You and I, we talked about what would happen when you started reliving this time in your life. You're not there yet, but it's only a matter of time before you turn… well, before you succumb to the darkness. But Reigna, you asked me to give you a chance to do better. I know it hurts right now, but you've been through all of this before, and years and years of life after, and when you looked back today, you wanted a chance to do better."

"And how do I do that?"

"Well… I think you just need to try to focus on all the good things. Your memories of the Enchanted Forest feel real and new, but you have memories with me that are real and new, too. You're safe here, Regina, with your family - all the people who love you and care about you."

Regina blinked a couple times, before nodding. "I think maybe I need a distraction. I need to not think about the past right now."

"Yes, a distraction. That's a good idea."

Regina turned to Emma with a look of expectation in her eyes. "Tell me a story."

"A… story?" Emma repeated, slightly confused. She'd read Regina a few stories when she was a child, but surely that's not what she meant?

Regina nodded again. "Yes… yes, tell me… tell me the story of how you and I met. Not when you found me in my mother's vault, but when we met the first time. As adults. The time I don't remember."

"Okay," Emma agreed, relaxing a little. "Well, I suppose to tell this story, I'm going to have to tell you the truth about Henry."

Regina's interest was clearly piqued as she leaned a little closer to Emma. "Henry?"

Emma nodded. "Yes. There's something we haven't told you yet. It's not a secret or anything, it's just that you were little and I wanted to just focus on letting you be little. But there's a reason he has the same name as your father. He's named after him."

"But there's no way you could have ever known my father… is there?"

Emma shook her head. "No. But I'm not the one who named him. You are."

Regina narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Why on earth would I have named your son?"

"Because… he's your son, too."

Regina bristled at the revelation, her mouth gaping in surprise for just a moment, before she regained her composure like the young Queen she was. "How…" Regina shook her head, trying to process. "We're not… not… are we?"

Emma smiled, flushing slightly as she realized that Regina thought she was insinuating they were a couple. "No. I had Henry very young, and I gave him up for adoption. You adopted him."

"Oh." Regina replied. "I suppose that makes more sense."

"Yeah," Emma agreed, but she couldn't help but note the hint of disappointment in Regina's voice, and she wondered what that was about. "You cast the Dark Curse and no one knew who they really were. Henry figured it out and he found me when he was ten, and he brought me back to Storybrooke to break it. That's how we met."

"Surely you must have hated me then."

"Well, it took some time for us to become friends, but… we did. We are."

"Are we?" Regina asked, seriously. "Were we, before any of this happened?"

"Yeah, we were. We are. You're not alone here, Regina. Not anymore. You have family and friends who love you, and who you love."

"I cannot imagine a world in which I love Snow White."

Emma smirked and shook her head. "Have I lied to you yet?"

"No. Let's not talk about Snow White. I wanted distraction… tell me more about our situation with Henry. We raise him together? Do you live here?"

"No, I live at the loft with my parents," Emma replied with a shrug. "Though I've kind of gotten used to all the extra space here, to be honest. It's gonna be so cramped to go back there with them and Neal again."

"Yes, I can imagine."

"And as for Henry, he sort of splits his time between here and there, between you and me. We've created a sort of functioning little family, I guess."

"You love him a lot."

"Of course I do."

"But you gave him up?"

Emma swallowed and nodded. "I was young, like I said. Seventeen. I couldn't give him a good life. But you could. And you did."

"I can't imagine I'm a good mother."

"No, you are. The best, really. You know, when I first discovered you in the vault, right after you'd just de-aged yourself to five, I was panicking. I didn't have a clue what to do and the first couple days were a disaster because I was in way over my head, and I kept thinking how if the situation were reversed, you'd have handled it perfectly."

Regina scoffed. "I highly doubt that. I've never done anything right in my life."

"You have. You just don't remember. But the rest of us do."

Regina let out a sigh and leaned back against the back of the couch. "This is all so much. But I must say, I am much happier to be sitting here with you, than locked in my room in Leopold's castle."

"He locked you up?"

Regina nodded as she stared straight ahead. "He wouldn't punish his daughter for her misdeeds, but he thought nothing of punishing his wife, it seems. I begged my parents not to make me marry him, but it was so important to my mother that I become Queen. Emma," Regina turned and looked at Emma with an intensity she wasn't expecting, "you are handling this perfectly. It hasn't been a disaster, any of it. If you had been there, then, I have no doubt you would have saved me."

"I would have done everything I could."

Without warning, Regina leaned toward Emma, pressing against her, her head falling onto Emma's shoulder. Instinctively, Emma wrapped her arms around the other woman and hugged her close. It was a strange sensation - hugging Regina in her adult body - but it only took Emma a few moments to adjust. Afterall, Regina had slept next to her last night, and though she was slowly slipping out of the spell and back into the woman she was, Emma knew their relationship would be forever changed by all of this. "I would protect you from anything," Emma murmured into Regina's hair.

Regina nodded against her shoulder. "I know. I believe you. My father, he loves me, but he can't protect me. He couldn't - not from my mother. I never had friends. I never had anyone who cared about until Daniel, and he couldn't save me either. And I couldn't save him. But you, Emma. You're different. You could have saved me."

Emma squeezed Regina a little tighter. "I would have helped you save yourself. That's what I'm going to do now. I promise."

"I don't want to become evil. I don't want power. All I've ever wanted is love."

"I know. And you have it now. You'll see."

Regina sighed. "I hope you're right."