The phone call with Anita went a lot better than she had expected, but it left her feeling a bit doubtful of the choices she was making and how she was about to turn her whole life upside down. And for what? For Henry? For Emma? For herself?

Anita never questioned the choices she made over the years, not even now with her choice in shutting down the firm and moving back to the town she'd grown up in. The woman was on the verge of retirement and Regina knew she was worried about making enough so that she'd be able to retire and survive comfortably. She promised Anita, a decision made on a whim, that she would pay her the wages she'd have earned had she not decided to close the firm. It lifted the burden off the older woman's shoulders, Regina could just tell in the way Anita's tone of voice changed after she mentioned it.

The phone call ended up being a very long one and mostly because they weren't just colleagues, they were also friends despite their age difference and the fact that they were the complete polar opposites. She instructed Anita on who to call and what to say as she knew some of those phone calls to other colleagues and her clients would be rather hard to make, just as hard as that phone call with Anita had been. But it was the end of the phone call that left her pondering for a while as it left her wondering if this was something she really should be doing or if she was making a huge mistake.

"Forgive me for saying this, Regina, but I say it as a friend. Are you sure this is what you want to do? After all, you've worked so very hard to get your firm to where it is now. You are well respected, and yes, the clients are a little bit out of the ordinary, but are you sure, Regina?"

"I need a change. It isn't what I want to do, it is what I need to do."

"I understand. All right. I will back you up and support you through this, Regina. It's the very least I can do. Let me know what else you need from me."

"I will, Anita. Thank you for being so understanding. Is Kathryn there right now, by any chance?"

"Yes, she is. In fact, now that I know exactly what is going on, it makes complete sense as to why she had ordered a hundred boxes that were delivered this morning. I thought she was planning to rob you, ma'am."

"I'll be in touch again after I make a few more phone calls, Anita. Thank you again for being so understanding. I know how sudden this all is-"

"Regina, if there is one thing in life that I do understand, it is doing whatever is best for yourself at the moment. You're a brilliant woman. You have a lot of passion and heart. Do you know what you'll do next?"

"I honestly don't have a clue."

"Then I guess you could just look at this new chapter in your life as it being a part of a new adventure."

An adventure. It was one way to put it.

Anita always had a way of getting to her in ways no one else ever could. She didn't use the word mistake once, not even at the end of the phone call before Regina had hung up and sat there in the stiff computer chair in the library and just stared blankly at the old computer monitor in front of her. She hadn't been sure at the beginning, but afterward, while she pondered over the tail end of their conversation, she knew it definitely was something that she needed to do.

Maybe it was her hangover. Maybe it was all this guilt she carried, old guilt and fresh guilt. Or perhaps it was just life's way of changing and taking her along for the ride.

It was being there that did it the most out of the endless of other reasons why. Something had woken up inside of her being around Emma again. She was doing the exact same thing she'd done before, dropped her whole life to have the life she actually wanted and needed. The lust for fun, for thrills, for so-called adventure, it had all but worn off for good. She had finally realized it there in the Storybrooke library while nursing a bad hangover and changing her life once again-hopefully for the last time.

It felt so freeing. More so when she hadn't realized she'd been waiting for that very moment to feel free again. It was an unexplainable feeling and one that gave her a much-needed boost of energy as she booted up the old computer and waited impatiently.

Regina frowned when she reached for her coffee and found it to be empty. She looked around the quiet library and hesitantly approached the young librarian at the desk. Belle French. The quiet girl. Regina was surprised she hadn't remembered her when she first walked in, but she greeted her with a polite smile.

"Do you happen to have any coffee?"

"We're not a-a-"

"Or a computer that isn't older than ten years, perhaps? One that works?" Regina asked and she frowned at the way the woman behind the desk continued to stammer. "I'm sorry, it's just that I have some work to do this morning and it'd be easier if-"

"Right. Regina. Hi," Belle said as she extended a hand with a warm smile. "First of all, I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you."

"Second of all," Belle said after a quick handshake and she dropped her hand, "aren't you a bigshot lawyer, Regina? Wait, are you doing it old school? No technology, only when you really need it an-"

"Excuse me?" Regina blinked in confusion. "No. I came here to work in peace and quiet. Do you have a computer I could possibly use for a couple of hours?"

"One that isn't ancient," Belle chuckled. "And one that works right?"

"Yes," Regina deadpanned. "Preferably."

"You need a library card."

Regina rolled her eyes and leaned forward and placed her hands on the desk. "I have one. I lost the card. Check your records."

"Our records only go ten years back, so I can safely say that you are no longer in our books," Belle replied coolly. "Would you like to sign up for one? Free of charge."

"I have to in order to use a workable computer here, don't I?" Regina asked defeatedly as Belle looked at her in surprise. "Is there a form I need to fill out or-?"

Belle all but thrust a blank form at her and scrambled for a pen. She smiled as she smoothly saved herself from disaster by gently placing the pen down on top of the form. Regina had to fight from rolling her eyes as she quickly filled out the form. Name and address, phone number not required. It was worth the tiny hassle if that meant putting off having to return to her mother's house just to retrieve her bag with her laptop in it.

Regina crossed her arms over her chest and waited, exhaling a small huff when Belle started typing her name into the equally as ancient computer there on the desk.

"Oh, for god's sake, Belle, we went to school together from kindergarten until we graduated high school. We might never have been friends, but you do know who I am and-"

"You're staying with your family?" Belle looked up at her in surprise. "Does this mean Zee was right? You're home? For good?"

Zee? Regina groaned. "Don't tell me," she muttered as Belle typed the address into the computer with a light chuckle. "Are you seriously friends with my sister now too?"

Belle turned her head slightly to look up at her and she just grinned before she turned her attention back to the computer. "There's some coffee in the back room, just over there," she said as she motioned behind her. "Help yourself. I'll print off your card. Just takes a few minutes sometimes, that's all."

"Thank you."

Regina walked to the room and stepped inside, expecting a little storage room and not the spacious office she just walked into. Though it was cluttered with stacks of books on the floor to ceiling bookshelves, it felt homey, intriguing, and more importantly, there was a very workable looking computer sitting on top of the big mahogany desk. A MacBook, one that definitely looked newer and bigger than her own.

"Coffee is over there," Belle said suddenly from behind her and Regina jumped at being startled. "And yes, Regina, you can use the computer in here."

"Your boss or-whomever, will they mind?"

"I'm the boss, and no I don't mind," Belle replied with a grin that mirrored the one she'd given Regina just minutes before. Smug almost. "We're only open for a few hours today, actually, just until three. It's normal for Monday. It's our slowest day and I-"

"Great. I should be done before then. Thank you, Belle."

Belle frowned and motioned to the small counter where a small coffee maker sat with a few mugs beside it and a little thermos of milk. Regina waited until Belle left the room before she made herself a cup and settled down behind the large desk. She barely had the laptop open before Belle walked back in and held out her brand new library card with a big, stupid grin on her face.

"All set," she chirped. "Let me know if there is anything you need. The internet connection in here can be a little wonky sometimes, but-"

"Wonky?"

"Slow."

"All right, I'm sure I can manage." Regina clenched her jaw as she waited for Belle to leave and when she didn't budge, she forced out a small smile. "Thank you. I really have to do some work. I'm sure Zelena told you about what happened with Henry."

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Belle chuckled. "I'll just be right out there. If you need me-"

"I know where to find you," Regina finished for her. As soon as she walked out and the door shut behind her, she exhaled sharply. "Finally."

Regina logged into her emails, ignoring all the ones that had come in just that morning and opened up a new email. She wrote out an email to Kathryn outlining in detail some of the things that were absolutely essential to be packed such as her clothes and some of the more important documents she kept in the safe in her office. The list continued and then she made another of the things that she wanted Kathryn to either donate or to have Anita decide what to do with them.

The internet was wonky and slow, but five minutes after she hit send, it finally went through. She sent a quick text to Kathryn to confirm. She responded no less than a minute later with confirmation she had received the email. Satisfied one task was now definitely out of the way, she set about to making a list of the rest of the things she'd need to do, the phone calls she'd need to make, and reorganized everything into a very specific order that would make the next couple of hours not only fly right by but be as productive as she could manage.

She finished the cup of coffee before she finished the list. She frowned as she got up to get another cup and stared at the half pot of coffee in annoyance. It wasn't good, yet it was drinkable, but it was weak. She'd need a lot more coffee, stronger too if she was going to get through everything she needed to do. She sighed in annoyance and poured another cup, keeping it black, before she headed back to the desk and settled in.

It was going to be a very, very long day.

[X]

Sometime around three that afternoon, Regina finally left the library, her phone nearly dead after all the calls she'd made. She had definitely made some progress in getting a good start to her new adventure, as Anita had put it, and she'd gotten all that she could get done over the phone and email that day. It had been productive even despite working through the migraine that came along with her hangover. Several of her colleagues she collected owed favors from had agreed to take on her current clients as their own-but only if her clients agreed and most of them had. All but one. Marie Whittle.

The infuriating woman refused to be handed off to someone else and Regina's colleagues, all familiar with the woman themselves, also declined to take on that specific case. In the end, she found her way out, fortunately, and she resigned as Marie Whittle's lawyer formally. She spent almost an hour on the phone with Anita after that, talking her through all the documents she'd need to gather and have sent by courier to the woman as soon as possible.

Her phone was ringing no less than fifteen minutes after she'd gotten off the phone with Anita. It was Marie Whittle, screaming at her the instant she answered the call, demanding to know why she was dropping her. Regina casually ended the call, reminding the woman she was on bereavement leave. She was quick to block the woman's number, all three of them that she knew of, and all so she would not have to listen to her whine, bitch, and complain and then proceed to yell at Regina for being unprofessional in the way she was handling things whenever Regina refused to do anything illegal on her behalf.

Her phone was blowing up with notifications from her email app as she walked out of the library and into the too bright and too hot mid-afternoon sun. Regina paused on the sidewalk and glared down at her phone until she managed to figure out how to turn the notifications off. It wasn't as if she could just toss her phone. Not yet, anyway, but the realization that she would be able to do that if she wanted to was becoming very real.

The life she had built for herself was being taken down, piece by piece. The life she thought she had wanted all those years, it wasn't what she wanted anymore. The life she wanted was right there all around her. The life she needed was in the very same small town she'd grown up in, the very town she thought for a long time she would never return to if she ever left. If it hadn't been for Emma, she would've left right after graduation, as was the original plan. If it hadn't been for Emma, she would've graduated years before she had and she stopped short on the corner a block away from the library and wondered if her life would've been better or worse had she never met Emma at all.

If it weren't for Emma, she would've never known love, at least not the deep-rooted love she'd felt with her. Emma was the reason she had found herself, so to speak, and Emma was the reason she knew what real love felt like just as Emma was part of the reason she knew what true heartbreak felt like too.

Regina ended up at her mother's house not long after leaving the library. Though she didn't want to be there unless she had to be, she ended up convincing her mother to let her borrow her car for the rest of the afternoon as it'd make getting around a lot easier and quicker. Her mother was somewhat apprehensive about handing over the keys, but ultimately she handed them over with the condition that Regina would be there for a family dinner the next evening. She agreed, mostly because she knew she would be there anyway, and then she was off in her mother's car and was driving towards Emma's house to check on Henry.

When she pulled up along the curb in her mother's black BMW, she saw Henry sitting out on the front steps with his skateboard on the ground in front of him and a can of Coke on the step beside him. He barely looked up as she got out of the car and crossed over the front lawn. She sighed as she sat down on the steps beside him and he echoed her sigh and kicked at his skateboard before he lifted his head to look over at her.

"What are you doing here?" Henry asked. "Checking in on me or something?"

"I am. Did you see my note?"

"Why do you think I'm still here?" he muttered under his breath. "Don't worry, I haven't left the house unless I'm not even allowed to be sitting out here?"

"You're still on the property, so I am sure it is fine," Regina replied. "Though you'll have to sit down with your mother and figure out what her rules and expectations are regarding your…situation."

"I'm on house arrest and I'm grounded indefinitely."

"I am not just here to check in on you, Henry," Regina continued. "I wanted to tell you that I left a message earlier with the detective in charge of the investigation. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I wanted to ask you if there is anything you'd like me to ask him on your behalf? Any questions? Concerns?"

"How long is this whole thing gonna take?" Henry asked. "I just want my life back, Regina. It's summer and I can't even hang out with my friends or do anything fun now. I made a mistake! I get that, but I didn't actually do any of these things they said I did."

Regina reached out and put an arm gently around Henry's shoulders. "I will get you your life back, Henry, but these things unfortunately take time."

"It sucks."

"I know it does, but I promised you that I would help you through this and I am."

Henry sighed and tried to wipe at his tears before Regina noticed. He shook his head as she dropped her arm from around his shoulders and moved to give him a little bit of space. She'd overstepped a boundary, she could just see it in Henry's eyes. She swallowed past the rising lump in her throat and looked down at the skateboard that was now on the grass.

"I know you stayed here again last night," Henry said quietly. "So, are you staying here with us then?"

"No, I'm not, Henry. Last night was-"

"So, you and Mom really aren't back together?" Henry frowned when Regina didn't immediately respond. "How long are you staying in town for then? Just until this whole shit-storm is over and then what? You go back to your life in New York and just what? You'll just forget about us again?"

Regina wanted to be honest with him as she believed he deserved nothing less. She ignored the profanity as she looked at him and just smiled. "I'm staying. Indefinitely," she said as he scoffed in disbelief. "Although, to be honest with you, I haven't figured out what comes next once we get those charges dropped for you and you get your life back. I wish I could tell you how long it'll take, but I don't know yet. I'm sorry."

"Once this is all over, then what?" Henry asked. "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know, Henry."

"You gonna be a lawyer here in town or something?" he asked. "Or are you gonna do something else?

"I doubt Storybrooke needs more than the few lawyers it already has. It's too small of a town to even consider opening up my own firm here and honestly, dear, I'm ready to make a few considerable changes in my life," she said with a light laugh. "But right now, I do not know. I'll figure it all out when the time comes, though."

"But you're staying here, in town? Even after this shit-storm blows over?"

"Yes. I am."

"Cool." Henry leaned back on the steps behind him and sighed. "You know, you should work with horses like you used to when I was a kid," he said after a beat. It immediately sparked an idea in Regina's head, one she wasn't sure she was ready to run with just yet. "You were always happy doing that, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was."

"Mom called you like a horse whisperer or something."

"I wouldn't go that far, dear," she chuckled quietly. "But I do know how to handle even the most difficult cases."

Henry laughed. "Well, it's an idea, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is a good idea, Henry," she said with a fond smile. "Any other ideas you have up that sleeve of yours? I'd love to hear them."

Henry lifted his arms and laughed as he shook his head. "I don't think so," he said and the laughter along with his smile quickly faded as he folded his hands in his lap. "I don't really know you anymore. All I know is what Grandpa told me about you whenever I asked. Mom didn't like it when I asked about you in front of her. Not at first, anyway. But Grandpa? He always loved it when I asked about you. I could tell."

"Henry-"

"He always talked about you, especially when it was just the two of us. I didn't really have to ask sometimes, you know? He was just happy to talk about you whenever he could. He told me a lot of stories about you when you were young, too."

"Oh he did, did he?" Regina chuckled. "I'm sure he wove in a few tall tales in those stories of his."

"Yeah, maybe," Henry replied and he frowned as the tears started to swell up in his eyes again. "I really miss him."

Regina felt a wave of emotion as tears flooded her eyes and blurred her vision. She reached out to hug Henry and was a little surprised when he did not hesitate to throw his arms around her tightly. She could feel the first of his hot tears as he held on a little tighter and she rubbed his back, much like the way she did when he was really young.

"I miss him too, Henry," she whispered. "I'm glad that you got to spend so much time with him and he with you. I know how much he adored you and loved you."

"Yeah."

Henry's voice sounded so small and meek, and when she felt his hot tears soak through her shirt, she found it was impossible to hold back her own tears any longer. Just holding him, crying with him, it brought her back to memories she had long forgotten, memories of those nights when he woke up from nightmares and needed them to be chased away. It wasn't the same, though. Henry was older now and different, too.

I don't really know you anymore.

He didn't, and she didn't know him, either, and that made the guilt eat away at her more so than it had in years. It was a heavy burden to bear and one she knew she had to fix sooner rather than later, and she knew she would have to start with Henry. She had to properly apologize to him for leaving the way she had, for not keeping in touch, for not being there for him as she should've been.

She had to find a way to apologize for being so selfish. Just apologizing with words wasn't enough. It'd never be enough.

And Henry wasn't the only one who deserved that apology. Emma did, too, as well as her own mother and sister and her niece.

"Hey," Regina said as she leaned back and then lifted her hands to gently wipe away Henry's tears from his cheeks with her fingers. "If you ever want to talk about him, I'll always be here to listen."

"Even if it's hard?"

"Even if it's hard," she said and she smiled. "It's good to talk about the people we've lost, especially when we loved them so dearly. It helps keep all the good memories alive."

"Yeah. I guess so." Henry shirked away from Regina and used the bottom of his plain white t-shirt to wipe away his tears. "Sorry."

"Don't ever apologize for what you feel, Henry," Regina said and he exhaled sharply and managed a small smile as he smoothed his t-shirt back down. "I think we both have a lot of stories about him that we can share with each other, stories only we know about him."

"Yeah."

Henry turned his attention to Robyn as she rolled up the street on her skateboard. She was smiling as she headed up to the front steps and tossed her board down on to the grass next to Henry's. She pulled off the backpack she was wearing and let it fall to the ground at her feet.

"Everything okay?" Robyn asked. "Hen, are you crying?"

"Yeah, it's cool, Robyn, everything is fine," Henry said, sniffling a little as he ran his fingers through his hair and forced a smile. "We were just talking about Grandpa. It's all good. Did you bring them?"

"Bring what?" Regina inquired. Robyn rolled her eyes as she unzipped her backpack and pulled out a few dozen comic books. "Oh."

"Entertainment," she said and she laughed as she handed them to Henry. "Em called me earlier and reminded me that Henry is very grounded and that means no TV, no video games, no phone, nothing. This is the next and only option to keep him from losing his mind to boredom since he's not allowed to leave the house and all."

"Any new ones in here?" Henry asked as he started to go through the comics one by one.

"I don't know, Hen, you know I stopped collecting them ages ago."

"Right," he sighed dejectedly. "Well, thanks, Robyn. Appreciate it all the same. Should keep me preoccupied for a whole hour at best."

"Don't be such an ungrateful brat," Robyn laughed as she slugged him in the arm and sat down in between him and Regina on the steps. "What are you doing here, Aunt Regina?"

"I just-I-"

"She's checking in on me," Henry finished for her. "Making sure I'm not breaking the laws around here and whatnot. Right, Regina?"

"Yes, well, I should go," she stammered as she got up from the steps and smiled down at the two teenagers. "You two stay out of trouble now, you hear me?"

"We will, Aunt Regina, don't you worry about us!" Robyn said and she all but pulled Henry up from the steps and towards the front door. "Whatever kind of trouble can we get ourselves into now, hmm?"

"Are you really leaving?" Henry asked, stopping short of following Robyn inside the house.

"Yes, I really should go. I have a few things to do. It's getting late. If you two need anything, call me, please. For anything at all."

"We will. Bye!" They both said in unison as they waved her off and she was already walking down to her mother's car before they shut the front door behind them.

Regina's mind was filled with the idea that was sparked by Henry as she spent the next half an hour just driving around town. Henry was right about one thing. She'd always loved working at the stables. She had spent so much time there when she was growing up and had always dreamed of one day owning a small farm or a ranch somewhere where she could raise her own horses and live that carefree life that really didn't seem to exist outside of fiction.

Yet, if there was one piece of advice that her father had given to her over the years that was really worth listening to now, it was to live her life doing what she was passionate about and doing what she enjoyed most.

And whatever that was, she had yet to truly figure it out. But she was going to. One way or another. If she learned anything, especially about herself, was that if she was going to do anything selfish, it was to finally live the life she'd been too afraid to live before.