MARY MARGARET'S POV

Emma and I woke up early on election day. Surprisingly, it had not been me the one that had set the alarm at 6a.m. nor the one that woke up first and made coffee. Ever since Emma had been released under probation after her last antics, she had been behaving like the grown up she was expected to be.

Of course, it was only the second day after the incident, but I could see Emma really meant the change of behaviour. Maybe she was right after all, maybe that night had just been one night. David said it was wishful thinking, but I had all my hopes high - and I was sure Emma wouldn't let me down, not this time.

We decided to have breakfast after voting, neither Emma or I could eat that early in morning. So, we walked towards Storybrooke's elementary school, the town's vote centre, to practice our right. I had always consider important to go voting and I had voted in ever single election since I turned 18; Emma, on the other hand didn't see the point on voting, this was her first time voting.

The thing I loved the most about voting as soon as the centre was open was no lines. I hated waiting in line. Besides, then you were done for the rest of the day and you didn't have to worry about it. The decision to make was rather easy for us too, no 'choosing the lesser of two evils' this time. I took the ballot and went to the little table I was assigned to, to mark the candidate I wanted as mayor. It was not a secret, I was pretty sure the whole town knew who we would vote for.

We were almost on our way out when we saw our candidate speaking with some voters, they were hugging her and wishing her good luck. Regina looked nervous, but nothing she couldn't mask under that smile of hers.

"Give me a second,"

"Emma, I don't think now it the right time," I grabbed her by the wrist. I was sure the last thing Regina wanted and needed right now was some Emma-drama.

"It's never the right time," Emma replied, shaking my grip off and walking towards Regina.

There was not much place, nor people, inside the vote centre, so even if Emma and Regina had walked towards a corner and were speaking in a low voice tone, I could still hear what they were staying.

"Hey,"

"Hi, Emma," Regina replied.

"Um - I just wanted to apologise for getting into trouble,"

"Yes, you already apologised, and I already told you it was alright," the brunette said and placed a hand on Emma's shoulder, "That's what friends are for, right? helping each other in times of trouble,"

"Yes, that's what they are for," Emma muttered so low that I almost didn't hear it. I realised by now, that I was eavesdropping and I was not ashamed of it, "Um - good luck today,"

"Thank you,"

"I'll guess I'll see you around," Emma said, studying her shoes and walked away, "Madam Mayor," she added with a ligh-teasing tone.

I was surprised by Emma's level of maturity. When she said she'd go and speak with Regina I had expected screams and tears - or, the other extreme: an make-out session that would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

When Emma walked pass me, she didn't even threw a glare at me. I turned my head to study Regina's emotions, she looked like a ghost, as if someone had sucked the life out of her. My eyes travelled back and forth between Emma, who was now leaving the school, and Regina, who leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

Even if my feet were almost set in motion to follow Emma; Regina was under a lot of pressure today, and I had grown to care about her so I decided to walk over, "Are you alright?" I asked, placing one hand on her arm.

"Yes," Regina replied clearing her throat, "It's just the pressure, I feel like so many people are expecting so much from me,"

"I bet," I replied, not envying Regina at all.

Regina stared at the voting crowd for a while before turning to me once again, "I feel like all the work we did was for nothing, I feel like my mother will win again and I just wasted everyone's time," she confessed, almost in a whisper, "I'm so tired, I just want to go home and sleep forever,"

"Come on, Regina," I squished her arms "That's not the attitude, you worked hard for this, and whatever the outcome is, I'll be proud of you, most people who worked with you will," her face told me that she didn't quite believe me, "I'm sure Emma is proud of you too, she's just doesn't know how to show it sometimes,"

"Will you come to the acceptance speech tonight? Even if I lose?" I nodded at her question, "And will you bring..." her voice trailed off, and if she had realised she had no right to ask for Emma to come.

"I'll be there, and Emma will be with me," Regina nodded and let a breath out, she looked better now.

I decided it was time to leave the vote centre, "Mary!" I heard Regina calling my name, I turned around to meet with Regina's gaze "Thank you, for everything," she added with a smile.

"No problem,"

Wondering where would Emma be, I exited Storybrooke's elementary school and started walking towards the main square. My stomach growled as reply, Emma was probably at Granny's, after all, we didn't have breakfast before coming to vote.

I walked down the almost-empty streets of Storybrooke and towards the diner, where Emma should be, chatting with Ruby. I saw Emma sitting at the bartop place, at our regular spot, she was talking with Ruby. Pushing the door, I entered the diner and listened to their conversation, it was the second time I caught myself eavesdropping - this was getting out of control.

"You can't really blame her for that," Ruby said, placing a cup of hot cocoa and cinnamon in front of her, "This is the most stressful day on her life,"

"You don't understand, she was just so cold and distant," Emma shook her head, "I fucked up,"

"Emma, people react different to stress. Don't you remember how you were before our last test?" the waitress asked, "You kicked me out of our apartment because I asked you if you wanted to eat something,"

"But - "

"Don't say that's hardly the same," I interrupted her, but before I could continue, a fourth voice joined the conversation.

"Hey," sounded distant and hesitating, we all turned to see Belle who was standing couple of feet away from us. I saw Ruby tensing up by the corner of my eyes; beside me, Emma had assumed Ruby's usual behaviour of 'hurt my friend and I'll hurt you,'.

Belle looked better than she looked when we last saw her. She had gained a bit of weight, but it didn't make her look fat - it made her look healthy, she was horribly skinny before she left. Her hair had grown couple of inches, it almost reached her waist, and the ends were lighter than the rest of her mane. Her skin, usually as white as mine, had a touch of gold. Even if that look would be gone before Christmas time, she looked like a true Californian Girl.

"I feel like I own all of you an apology," Belle stated when we didn't say anything, "Specially to you, Ruby,"

Ruby gulped. I had no idea what had happened between the two girls, other than what Emma had told me: Belle had decided to go with Killian's friend, Jefferson; Ruby had gone ballistic about it, kicked Belle out of Granny's and then Belle had disappeared, until now.

"It's alright," Ruby said after a while, "It's not like I treated you very well either," a small smile appeared on Ruby's face and Belle seemed to relax a bit. "Friends?" Ruby asked, holding her fist out towards Belle.

"Friends," Belle said, pounding Ruby. They left their hands locked and looked at Emma and me.

I raised my fist before Emma did, and placed it between Ruby's and Belle's thumbs. My future sister-in-law studied Belle before shifting her gaze to our three fists together. It was not the first time we did the foursome-fist (the name, invented by Emma, of course had a sexual innuendo), we used to do this shake after most of our fights, and it meant that we forgot everything and decided to move on. Which was most of the times the healthiest thing to do.

"Ah, whatever," Emma said after a while and placed her fist opposite to me, "Welcome home, Belle,"

Belle's smile grew wider and she slid her arm around Emma's shoulder, embracing her in a half hug. "So, I hear congratulations are in order," she commented, "For all of you,"

"Yeah, MM finally lost her virginity, she deserves the biggest congratulations of them all," Ruby said, and I softly punched her in the arm - she deserved it.

Ruby made a couple of tea for Belle and another of cocoa and cinnamon for me. We talked for the rest of the day, and for the first time in forever, Granny didn't care that Ruby was not doing her job. I guess she was happy to see that her girls were alright again.

We had stayed at Granny's most of the morning, talking and catching up with our respective lives. I told Belle about my engagement with David, Ruby and Emma interrupted every thirty seconds or so to give ideas about the bachelorette party; then Ruby and Emma talked about their plans for the future, Emma opening the party-planing agency and Ruby running Granny's so Granny can retire, or just take care of the 'Bed' part of their 'Bed & Breakfast'; Belle was the last one to talk, telling us all about her adventure on the West Coast (Ruby was ecstatic when she heard that Jefferson was 100% gay).

Then Emma and I went home, until it was six in the afternoon, time to learn about the results. It was not hard to convince my friend to come with me to the gathering in front of the Elementary School, however she didn't want to be seen in the crowd - for whatever reason, sometimes Emma is weird.

"I don't want to upset Regina or anything," Emma said looking past me, it seemed like she was searching for someone "I always manage to upset her, or make her uneasy, so I'll stay behind those bushes," she added, pointing at some thicket.

"Emma, seriously," I rolled my eyes,

"Whatever, M," she walked away, "I'll meet you at Granny's when it's over,"

I shook my head and looked in the crowd for David, he was sitting almost in the back row and had saved one seat for me and another one for Emma.

"Emma's not sitting with us,"

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Something about upsetting Regina and hiding behind the bushes," David shrugged and we turned to look at the stage that had been placed in front of the vote centre.

A spotlight shone over the two people standing on the stage: Sheriff Graham and Mother Superior, the person who had been in charge of counting the votes. The nun handled a white envelope to the sheriff and went off stage. It was then when Graham walked towards the podium and asked for everyone's attention.

"People of Storybrooke," Graham started, "Today you all went to vote for the person you considered most fit to be our next mayor. Now, I have here the results," he raised the white envelope "But first, why don't we give a warm welcome to our candidates?" some people in the crowd clapped, "First, our current mayor, Mrs. Cora Mills," he pointed at the stairs and a spot light shone over Cora, as she climbed the stairs.

People clapped, but it felt more like it was out of politeness for the old lady that had been mayor for the last sixteen years. Beside me, neither David nor Ruby, who had sat on Emma's seat, clapped.

"And our second candidate, and talk about keeping it in the family: Regina Mills," Graham said with her enthusiasm in his voice. The crowd, however, clapped and whistled with more joy as Regina climbed the stairs and walked towards the podium.

The younger candidate shook her mother's and Graham's hand, people were still clapping when she stood next to her mother with a big smile on her face. I couldn't guess which smile was faker: Cora's or Regina's, and Graham's wasn't very convincing either. It was easy to guess why Cora and Graham had fake smiles plastered on their faces, neither one of them wanted to be standing next to Regina. I hoped Regina's force smile was because she was worried, otherwise it would mean something is wrong.

"And now," Graham said walking back to the podium, "People of Storybrooke, let me introduce you to our Mayor," he added as he opened the white envelope. His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline when he read the name, "Regina Mills, elected for the next four years,"

The crowd went crazy at the mention of Regina's name. Some of them stood up as they clapped and whistled. I heard Emma's scream of approval over the rest of the crowd and it drew a little small on my face - she must be ecstatic. First, Regina shook her mother's hand, then she shook Graham's and finally she took the podium.

"Thank you," Regina said to the crowd "thank you," she repeated and the people stopped clapping to hear their new mayor talk. "I want to thank each and every one of you, for being here, for helping me in this adventure, for accepting who I was and not judging, for supporting me," she stopped and looked to the silent crowd "I would like to specially thank to a person that made all this possible, who gave me so much and asked for nothing in return,"

Regina's eyes stopped on me. I knew she was looking for Emma, I shook my head and pursed my lips into a line. It made Regina's smile shrink a little. Regina offered me a small smile and continued her speech as if nothing had happened.

I turned my head to the bush where Emma had hidden before, she was still there. I tilted my head towards the stage, telling her to go out and face Regina, but the blonde just ignored me and looked at Regina. I was too concentrated with my silent one-way-conversation with an Emma that was not paying attention to realise that Regina had stopped talking. The brunette was staring at her papers, no words were coming out of her month. Everyone waited quietly to see what Regina had to say.

Then she started again, but this time her voice wasn't the voice of a winner, tinted with victory; but a voice of a nostalgic, even depressed person I'd say.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be the Mayor," I felt David nod at Regina's words. "I loved my mother and I wanted to be just like her," Regina stared at her mother, and Cora forced her smile even more "But I don't want that anymore, I don't want to be like you, mother," Cora's smile disappeared from her face.

Her words hadn't just shocked Cora, almost everyone in the event had dropped their jaws at Regina's boldness. For my place, I could see that even Emma was impressed.

"I just want to be happy," Regina continued without breaking the eye contact with her mother "As lame as that sounds, because you had everything you wanted but no happiness nor love. And I can't believe I almost gave that up to be like you,"

At this point everyone started whispering, commenting on the mayor's statement and wondering what would that mean. Regina stared at me and, with a nod, I encouraged her to continued.

"The truth is that I love Emma Swan, more than words could ever explain," those words silenced the crowd again.

The people of Storybrooke started looking around, possibly trying to spot Emma. But she wouldn't be seen unless she wanted to. My eyes were fixed on Regina, if she needed encourage she would just need to look at me, and I'd encourage her.

"I love the way you fight to smile during romantic movies because you have told everyone you hate them," the recently elected mayor's eyes were glued somewhere and her voice sounded happy now. I followed her sight and realised that Emma had finally decided to appear.

Just like me, all the people of Storybrooke turned their heads and gasped when they saw Emma standing behind the last row of chairs.

"I love the way your dreamer eyes shine when the lovers kiss, wondering if you'll ever be kissed like that," the brunette kept confessing her feelings in front of the crowd "I love how you bite your lip when you can't solve a Sudoku, or when a piece of the puzzle doesn't fit. I love how your skin smells after you've tanned and I love how you can mess with my head, and make me angry and make me laugh. I love everything you do. And I've been stubborn enough to not say it before today, but the moment you walked out of my life was the moment I realised I can't live without you."

Some people aww-ed, some stood up and cheered for Regina, most of them clapped. I didn't care about them and their opinions on the matter. I just cared about Emma, and she looked like she would burst of happiness, and before she could have a second thought, she ran towards the stage and high jumped its height - who said you'll never use the things you learn stuff during P.E and gymnastics? - to land next to Regina and then Emma kissed the brunette like I've never seen her kissing anyone before. And I have seen Emma kiss plenty of people.

"And if you people would have me," Regina addressed to the crowed once more, her hand linked with Emma's "I'd still love to be your mayor,"

Then, the crowd erupted with cheers, as if Regina was a famous rock star in her last concert. I watched Cora's expression: disgust. There was no joy in her eyes, and I felt bad for her, because in that moment I knew that Cora Mills would never be truly happy and would never love anyone. Next to the former mayor stood Graham, who surprisingly seemed content at the situation, maybe he was imagining a Ménage à trois

"I thought I lost you," she whispered, but since her microphone was still on, everyone else could hear their soft exchange of words.

"How can you lose me?" Emma replied cupping Regina's cheeks and looking straight into the mayor's eyes, "You've owned me from the first moment I saw you."

David took my hand on his and we walked towards them. They greeted us with a group hug and we congratulated both of them. By unanimity we decided to celebrate at Granny's. Stopping every couple of meters by eager citizens who wanted to salute the new mayor, we made out way to the diner and sat on a big booth. Later Ruby and Belle joined us, they said that things between them were not pitch-perfect but they were in a good place to start.

I studied my group of friends and their interactions with a big smile on my face. Ruby and Emma were making (more) plans for my bachelorette party, Emma was holding hands with Regina, Regina was talking to Belle and David about opening a public library and David had with his arm around my shoulder.

It looked like the perfect ending of our own TV show. But, it didn't feel like an ending, it felt more like a new beginning. And in that moment I understood that happy endings are just the starting point to a new exciting chapter. And that they come to those who patiently wait for life to throw them a curve and turning that unexpected situation into the perfect opportunity.

F I N

This is the last chapter of this story. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of sad to see it end; it has been really wonderful to write this fic for you and to get all the feedback you gave me. And, as MM said, endings are new beginnings! So, even if this story will have no sequel, I'll write more Swan Queen and Snowing stories.

Thanks to each and everyone of you who followed, favorited and reviews. This story is for each and and every one of you.

On a side note. For those who are not native speakers or are not familiar with american idioms; to throw (somebody) a curve (ball) is an idiom that means 'to surprise someone with something that is difficult or unpleasant to deal with'

Hugs,

Mara