Waking up with her head on Regina's chest and fingers combing through her hair was the best way to start the morning Emma decided, or at least top five. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The other woman had woke her as the sun barely brushed the treetops, telling her in a drowsy, sotto voice that she should head back home to prevent the wrath of her mother. As much as she wanted to protest, Emma knew she was right. While Mary Margret seemed fine last night, she knew that mood was tenuous. Another late morning entrance could definitely spoil it.

So they extracted themselves from the comfort of the warm bed and dressed with sleep-clumsy limbs in the still night covered room. Regina walked with her downstairs; standing back with her arms crossed to watch Emma stumbled into her boots with vague adoration. Flipping her blonde waves out of her leather jacket, she asked her voice quiet as if to not wake the house, "I'll come by later tonight?"

"No, I think you should be with Henry tonight." Regina cast her eyes down. "He might be nervous about the trial tomorrow."

"What about you?" Emma worried about the woman ghosting around the large, empty manor alone.

"I'll be fine."

"I could- I could bring him with me." She offered tentatively.

"No." Regina said a little too emphatically. "I mean, no. I wouldn't want to force him to see me if he's not ready… Do you think he is?"

Not wanting to definitively say no Emma balked slightly, "I'm not sure. I haven't asked. That is we haven't talked about it-"

"It's okay Emma. Just let him know he's always welcome home."

"He knows Regina. I'll make sure he knows."

"Thank you."

"You're sure you don't want me to come over tonight?"

"I'm sure." Regina reached for Emma's waist, drawing them closer together. "I don't want you to come over tonight because it will just feel like saying goodbye."

"Regina don't. Don't talk like that." Emma felt her face crumple with the sudden grief-stricken thought. Suddenly this felt like a goodbye.

"I'm not saying it would be. I just want to be able to say I'll see you tomorrow. Please don't think about it too much."

"Okay." Emma sighed and put her arms around Regina's shoulders, pulling her even closer so their noses brushed against each other. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Regina smiled brightly despite everything and looked at her coyly through thick lashes. They kissed gingerly and unrushed, trying to hold onto the last bit of the morning together. When they separated, the brunette said impishly, "Now go princess before your parents find out you've left your tower."

Emma groaned at the joke. "Please don't call me that."

"We'll see." Regina pecked her lips one last time and stepped back. Emma had to put a concerted effort in not following her. "Have a good day Ms. Swan."

"You too Madam Mayor." Emma grinned, walking backwards until she thumped against the door. She then sheepishly slipped out into the cold with the last glimpse of Regina in her robe, mildly mussed from sleep and naturally beautiful as the first touch of sunrise poured into the foyer.

The sheriff walked briskly down the sidewalk, the grass on the undisturbed lawns pale with frozen dew coating each blade. Her breathing clouded in enchanting white puffs. It was satisfying to see the production of each exhalation, she dragged the cold air leisurely into her lungs and watch the amorphous cloud form and dissolve in the morning. Her body was warmed from being wrapped around Regina all night, like they had created some kinetic energy that seeped into her. The pervading chill felt refreshing and crisp on her nearly overheated skin. Emma's feet mindlessly followed the well-known route to the town square. Granny's Diner was the only lighted establishment; the chimney already unfurling industrious grey smoke and the green and red fluorescent sign buzzed dimly beckoning customers. Emma heeded the call, deciding to stop in for coffee and donuts for the apartment.

When she entered the restaurant, it initialed appeared empty until she noticed one patron in the front corner. Leroy sat slouched with an empty coffee cup and his signature glower firmly in place. Normally if Leroy was awake this early it was because he was on a bender and hadn't gone to bed yet. But he didn't seem drunk as he rather calmly at his table. Emma looked at Ruby who was standing at the register with a questioning look. The waitress only comically shrugged as she approached. Emma greeted her, a little unsure, "Hey Red."

"Hey Em." Her lips curled into a smile, her lipstick emboldening the tired expression. "You're up early this morning."

"Yeah I-" Emma intended to give her a benign excuse like being out for a morning jog but she noticed the other woman's nostrils flare slightly. She remembered the hyper senses that Ruby had displayed when briefly helping her with Mary Margret's case and she could only guess that she was drenched in Regina's scent. "I thought I'd stop and get donuts on my way home. Can I have four bear-claws, three coffees, and a hot chocolate to go?"

"The donuts are still in the oven. Do you mind waiting a bit?"

Emma slid up onto a barstool. "Yeah, that's fine. Thanks."

Ruby took out two mugs from underneath the counter and poured herself and Emma a cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot. Emma voiced her appreciation and dumped her usual amount of sugar and cream into the black beverage as Ruby did the same. Her friend rested her elbows on the countertop, having to bend her tall frame slightly awkwardly to accomplish it, and noted, "You seem in a better mood from yesterday."

"Yes, I suppose I am." Emma gave her an uncomfortable smile, not sure she could talk about what transpired between her and Regina.

"Good morning." Astrid suddenly appeared from behind the kitchen, the door swinging merrily behind her. She looked nervously thin in t-shirt that was too big with Granny's Diner printed on it in a script font. She assumed this was the regulation uniform, not the racy black top and red mini skirt she wore under her apron. Her voice frothed and bubbled with enthusiasm when she noticed Emma. "Hello, Sheriff Swan."

"Please, I'm just Emma when I'm in my pajamas." She flicked her wrist dismissively at her formal title.

"Emma." Astrid bobbed her head and giggled. Then something over Emma's shoulder caught her eye and she gasped a little. "Oh."

She self-consciously touched her hair, the mousy brown curls pulled back in a mostly neat bun. Grinning even wider, the former fairy shyly waved across the room. The blonde turned curiously to find Leroy looking more dopey than grumpy and waving back at her. The smile on his face could only be described as dreamy.

"Why don't you take the coffee pot over and see if he's ready to order." Ruby suggested. "He wasn't ready when I went by."

"Alright." The woman assented readily, picking up the carafe wandering over to the now eager customer. Emma watched in awe as they greeted each other moony looks and fluttering eyelashes, clearly love-struck.

"Granny let her work the dinner shift last night and he was here so long that she spilled iced tea on him 3 times."

"Oh my god." She uttered scandalized and turned her attention back to Ruby.

"And he didn't yell once."

Emma replied wryly. "Well it must be true love then."

Ruby laughed. "I'll drink to that."

She clinked her cup with Emma's and took a swig, the blonde mimicking her in agreement. There was a pause and Ruby looked pensively into her cup of swirling caramel liquid, "You know you could talk to be about it if you wanted to."

The sheriff froze and then took a moment to drain some more of her beverage before replying, "I didn't know if you would want to hear about me and the Evil Queen. You and Snow seemed close."

"I wouldn't go run and tell her anything you said. We're friends too Emma." She seemed upset that she would think otherwise.

"I know. Of course we're friends. Just with the curse breaking… I feel like I don't know who anybody is anymore."

"How can you say that?" The hurt in her features deepened.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean for it to sound like that. It's just that people are remembering entire life times that don't include me. I feel like everything I knew about them is wrong."

"I understand this whole thing is pretty confusing. But it doesn't negate the time we've spent together."

"How does it feel now that you remember who you are? Do remember being Ruby?"

"It's strange to think that Ruby is made up because she's still me. I'm still Ruby. Like I was always myself from the Enchanted Forest but now I know how to drive a car, and know great tips about winging your eyeliner."

"That sounds complicated."

"I'm getting used to it, like my mind is evening out." Red tapped a black-painted nail on the rim of her mug. "I think the biggest difference is that back in the Forest I was so worried about being good. I carried around a lot of guilt. I felt responsible for the death of someone I loved. I felt like a monster and it ruled everything I did… Here it all feels so far away. I can just be."

"That could be a good thing, right?"

"Yes and no." Then she said something surprising. "I imagine it's kind of how Regina feels right now."

"How do you mean?"

"Having the guilt all those years, it sort of became apart of me. With Regina, her revenge, the curse, it has been apart of her identity for so long. I know that it's good to let it go, but it still feels like you're losing yourself a little bit when it's finally gone."

Emma felt the truth in her words. For as long as she could remember, she was the abandoned girl. First her parents, then the Swans who were the first in a long succession of foster homes that sent her back to be a ward of the state, and then Neil, they all dumped her so that finally she started to leave before anyone else could. She held onto the resentment and isolation for so long. Then Henry had shown up on her doorstep with his cheeky grin, wanting her in his life unrelentingly, and her whole world shifted. She replied after thinking, "I understand. Before Henry came for me, I let my past to define me. I was the jaded loner. I still feel like that sometimes. Staying here had been the hardest and best thing I've done."

"For what it's worth I'm glad you stayed." Ruby placed her hand warmly over Emma's, then carefully broached. "How have you been since the curse broke?"

"Honestly, at first not great." She grimaced. "But I'm getting used to everything, the idea that a magical realm exists… The hardest part has been people wanting me to be this Savior. They get to remember they are heroes or warriors but I don't have a fantastic alter ego. I don't know if I can be who they need me to be."

"Emma, I'm so sorry if we've been demanding too much." Ruby apologized sincerely. "I guess we thought you'd be looking for us and come to the rescue. Nothing happened how we thought it would though."

"I think that is a sentiment we can all agree on." Emma sipped her coffee. " I mean look at those two. They're an odd pair."

The two people were still conversing in the corner and whenever Astrid giggled Leroy's cheeks would flush pink. Red nodded as she brought her cup to her lips. "Yeah, a fairy and a dwarf is unheard of in the forest."

"I was thinking more a nun and the town drunk."

"And the sheriff and the mayor?"

"I know it's hard to understand. Regina is the exact person I shouldn't pick but I'd pick her every time."

"When the curse hit, we were literally at war with the Evil Queen. It's strange to think she's not a threat anymore."

"She isn't you know, a threat." Emma blurted. "And at the end of the day, after all the bullshit we've been through, she makes me happy."

"I want that for you Emma. I really do. Not matter who it's with."

"Thank you Ruby. Sorry I mean-"

"It's okay. I don't mind either way." Then the waitress broke out in a salacious grin, leaning towards her conspiringly like she would before the curse broke and she had some savory gossip to dish. "So tell me about you and Regina because you two are scorching hot and I need the details."

Emma flushed, her mouth dropping open in shock at her bold inquisition. Before she had to answer, a stern voice cutting through the dinner saved her.

"Are you trying to burn my donuts girl?" Granny shouted from the kitchen and a moment later emerged with a scowl and a steaming hot tray of baked goods maybe a shade darker than usual but otherwise looking like perfection.

"Sorry Granny I-"

But before Red could finish her sentence Granny set her cantankerous sights upon someone else. "And Leroy you've been getting bacon and grits for the last 28 years, let my waitress take your order. We're about to be full in here in less than 10 minutes I don't have time for all this idle chit chat."

Astrid jumped to action, scurrying back into the kitchen while scribbling on her server's pad. Ruby was less intimidated as she rolled her eyes but reached behind her for the to go cups and started pouring the coffees for Emma. The elderly woman then shifted her attention to Emma, sounding gruff but more kindly, "Take an extra bear claw for later."

"Thanks, how did you know?" Emma grinned appreciatively.

"I may be too old to shift but I still have the wolf's ear." Granny winked.

Then a loud clattering sound could be heard from the back, having the woman huffing and muttering as she went to find the source of the ruckus. Ruby was capping off Henry's hot chocolate and getting it into the drink carrier as she dryly said. "You might want to stick around a bit longer. We may have a homicide in a minute."