So, I've reached the point where one tiny tug on any given thread could pull the story together or unravel it, so I'm taking extra precaution. Lots of loose ends waiting to be tied.

That said, enjoy, lovelies! (And stop being lazy with your reviews. It's bad etiquette to stop screaming when you finally get what you want. I take the abuse and then I get the kudos. That's how this is supposed to work.)

Song: Everything Changes by Staind (Thanks, firedancer34 for the suggestion! It was perfect to describe Emma's state of mind even though it's a pretty upbeat chapter.)


"One more mile," Emma begged her daughter and then bounced around the teen stretching in front of their house.

"Can we walk it? We've already done 15," Katy pointed out, not prepared for the effects of the long run on her slightly untrained body. She'd missed quite a few workouts during her morning sessions with Astrid. Emma made up for every single one with this past week.

Emma stopped hopping and breathed deeply of the early morning air. The dampness of the previous evening's rain cooled their sweat-slicked bodies. They'd started in the dark at 4:30, and if Katy went much longer she'd be a stinky, hungry mess for Astrid's arrival at 8. Katy almost decked her mother when she woke her abruptly for the fourth morning in a row to go running with her. Emma was neither shy nor subtle in her tactics.

"Come on, kid, it's your seventeenth birthday today, we should do two more in honor of it," Emma reminded her. She'd requested a small gathering later that evening and their help with the youth center that afternoon, nothing too extravagant.

"What's wrong with you?" Katy snapped and wiped sweat from her lip. It wasn't that she couldn't do two more miles, but that Emma behaved so strangely. She'd recovered her memories, spent the first two days moping about, barely speaking and eating, and then suddenly energy for days. Regina continued residing at Amelia's but came over and made breakfast before taking Henry to school, filling in here and there when Emma dropped the ball.

"Nothing," Emma said with a shrug.

"You're a damn liar. You're magic hasn't returned, Emma, which means there is something very wrong with your emotions." Katy's hands wrapped around her hips in sassy defiance that her mothers inadvertently encouraged. She felt more like herself the past couple weeks than she had since before Captain's death. It was progress, and Emma's support helped her get there. This wasn't Emma. Emma hated mornings and barely made it out of bed to make them breakfast. Emma wasn't a morning runner.

"Fine, go get your stretch on. I'm going to finish this 17 mile ambition," Emma poked at her and took off again.

"Emma, damn it," Katy cursed at her mother sprinted after the older woman.

15 minutes and 47 seconds later, they approached the same spot, pushing each other by digging into their reserves. It felt good, Katy admitted. Runner's high definitely challenged the pleasure of an orgasm with the amount of endorphins it spit into her veins. Emma pushed ahead, feeling none of the exhaustion Katy experienced. She laughed in delight and held her fists in the air in a "V" on the stoop by the door with Katy at the foot of the walkway. The teen trudged up the walk holding her side.

"I need water," she gasped and then took a minute to catch her breath before stepping beside Emma. "How are you not dying?"

Emma shrugged and leaned over to hug her thighs to her chest. "Because I'm in awesome shape and you're a slacker," she answered playfully. Katy pushed her off balance, and she stumbled into the door, tongue sticking out at the teen. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the handle around her mother who rolled off the wood and followed her inside. The teen dropped to the hardwood in the foyer to stretch before her shower.

"Hey, Kid," Emma shouted to Henry in the kitchen helping Regina. "Want to grab the gloves and throw around the ball before breakfast?"

He glanced up at Regina and then bolted from the kitchen in a mad dash when she nodded her approval. Emma grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and took a huge swig, eyes roaming Regina's body in the sleeveless aqua top and short, matching bottoms. Their sexual attraction never died. Regina gasped and the spatula fell to the floor when Emma's hands grabbed her breasts roughly from behind and jerked her into her more solid form.

"I fucking hate you," she whispered into her ear and twisted her nipples painfully, "but if her majesty would like to come out this evening and play, I wouldn't object." Regina braced a hand on the counter beside the stove, steadying herself. Emma disappeared into the back yard a moment before Henry sprinted through the kitchen. Regina glanced up at the sound of a throat clearing.

"If you take that offer, I'm coming after you again," Ruby threatened.

"You're ability to eavesdrop from any location makes me wonder exactly how many times you've heard us in late-night activities," Regina griped, her tone implying the perversity of Ruby's gift. Ruby set her daughter on the floor, and Regina knelt to hug the girl tightly.

"Morning, Adgie," she spouted, her tiny arms around Regina's neck. They'd decided to slowly get Alex used to the new house by sleeping there and then gradually spending less time at the mansion. The previous night marked the first night in their new home.

Regina kissed the side of her head with a humming smack and pulled back enough to see the girl's face. Ruby helped herself to coffee and grinned down at the two. Despite Emma's marathon of physical activity designed to distract her from the heavy emotions that needed to swell and crash, Regina remained true to her path, recovering bits and pieces of herself a little at a time, healing her relationship with her children, supporting Emma any way possible.

"Did you sleep well in your new room?" She asked the toddler.

"There's a goblin in my closet," Alex said matter-of-factly. "His name is Horace, and he likes to nibble on my toes and Gizmo's ears when I'm asleep." Ruby almost spit coffee across the room, and Belle stumbled into the kitchen, a laugh on her lips. Regina laughed as well and hugged the girl tightly, not bothering to tell her that Goblins lived in the forests of the Shadow Realms.

"The literature of this world is very inaccurate," Belle lamented and snuggled into Ruby's side. They looked good together, happy. It almost looked wrong for them to be physically separated when Belle kissed the underside of her jaw and then crossed to Annabel for some good morning loving with the only creature as slobbery as she. It'd been a fantastic morning. She'd only peed twice and hadn't once felt sick to her stomach. She felt so good that even the drool seemed a small thing to suffer for her children. She'd worried about Emma most of the night, but eventually Ruby settled her with a massage, so she slept like a kitten.

Katy entered with wet hair slapping down her white tank top from the fastest shower in the universe. Alex abandoned Regina to perch on the teen's shoulder like a parrot, her new favorite place in the whole world. She held tightly to her head as Katy moved around the kitchen, dumping protein powder into milk.

"So, when are we going to talk about the fact that Emma is on the verge of a mental breakdown?" She asked the three adults as she shook the hell out of her breakfast in the sip bottle. "54 miles, guys. In four days, we've run 54 miles. I'm seriously sorer than Belle after wolf's week."

Ruby choked on coffee again and set the cup on the counter. Alex howled like a wolf, completely (and thankfully) missing the deeper sexual meaning of the complaint.

"Katyline," Belle laughed and rubbed her forehead, not embarrassed as much and annoyingly amused.

"Darling, you used a similar tactic of coping, remember?" Regina reminded her daughter and pulled another utensil from the rack. "Emma will not listen to reason until she has exhausted all other methods of coping. Until then, we must simply wait. She cannot be forced to sort through her emotions until she's ready."

Katy sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "No wonder you all wanted to slap my tits off the past few months. How did you deal with me?"

"We have the power to make you do dishes," Regina snapped playfully.

"Slap tits!" Alex squealed and clapped, nearly losing balance on Katy's shoulder. The teen stabilized her and grinned at Ruby who covered her shaking ribs with one hand, the other propped on her forearm and over her eyes.

"Katyline, please be careful of your choice of words around our little parrot," Belle said kindly, but the deeper rumble of irritation registered. Cursing came with their family, but Alex started school in a couple months, which meant she needed to understand that she could not say certain things.

"I have to go now," Ruby said, her voice high-pitched and cracking with laughter. She dumped her coffee in a thermos and then crossed the kitchen to her fiancée. Belle hummed into the slow and meaningful but relatively chaste kiss, hands clutching either side of Ruby's waist. "See you at 11. Granny and Tink should have the cake samples finished by then."

"You're getting fitted at three, so please make sure that Tink has worn the appropriate undergarments and you've showered after working on the farm," Belle reminded her, and Ruby's nose wrinkled, lips pressed together in an embarrassed amusement.

"You love to put me in these types of conversations, don't you?"

"Hey," Emma yelled and scared the hell out of all of them before she stepped inside the open patio door. "Ask Tink if I can borrow her bike."

"What on earth could you possibly need with a motorcycle?" Belle asked the question burning the tip of Regina's tongue. Aside from the overt sexual advances, she and Emma hadn't spoken since that night unless absolutely necessary.

Emma wiggled her cell phone in the air. "My realtor just called. I got an offer on my house in Salem. It's been on the market since I moved here. It's a little less than what I wanted, but seeing as my wife is filthy rich, I just want it over with. Cash offer, and Felicia gave me the stamp of approval for the family. I'm going to be gone a couple days. I need to clean out all of the furniture and appliances because they don't want it. I figured that I could load the bike in the truck," Emma explained reasonably. Clandestinely, she really just wanted to whip down the interstate on something with the potential to kill her faster than a car. "You want it for the wolf farm? If so, I need to be able to get it back here."

"That'd be great. I've had to be stingy with that kind of stuff because I have to make sure I can get everyone into a house," Ruby answered with a grateful smile. "I'll talk to Tink." She kissed Belle again and then Alex and squeezed Katy's shoulder, encouraging the girl to be patient with her mother.

"Emma, is it a good idea for you to be away right now?" Belle asked cautiously.

Emma shrugged and sucked down half a bottled water. "I think it'd do me some good to be away for a few days. I can spend some time with Felicia and Jane and Maura and Emily. People who aren't magical," she countered and then finished the water as she disappeared outside again.

"I rest my case," Katy groused. "She's lost like 10 pounds in a week, but I guess we'll just sit around and wait while we let her drive a few hundred miles on a motorcycle and the wings of a death wish." The doorbell rang. "That's Astrid. Save me some bacon." She deposited Alex on the floor and stalked from the kitchen with that disgusting shake in hand.

"She's right," Regina admitted darkly and transferred a small pancake to a plate with a strip of bacon and a serving of fruit for Alex and handed it to Belle.

"It doesn't change the fact that Emma will do what she wants until she figures out how she's supposed to feel about everything," Belle reminded her gently. They'd all approached Emma in the past week about her behavior, her memories, her feelings. No one penetrated the thick walls she'd erected around her heart or changed her rigorous physical activity.

She blatantly ignored her parents as though they'd not spoken. Regina and Amelia mostly got offers for violent sex. She and Ruby got fake assurances, not quite as venomous as the rest of her rejections. Only the children elicited any sort of real emotion from The Savior. She loved her kids, but even they felt the strain of Emma's pending breakdown, knew on some level she pretended to be happy for their sake. She barely slept. Ate enough to function. And never stopped. From dawn until she passed out from exhaustion, Emma moved – running with Katy, working at the youth center, helping at the wolf farm, and working out in her room when sleep still eluded her.

Denial sank its talons deep into her heart, and no one knew how to help her. They'd never seen Emma behave this way. She justified her actions by spending time with her children, but everyone knew she really only looked for the next physical high of endorphins to mask the pain. It's another reason why Ruby and Belle refrained from completely leaving the mansion, keeping clothes and hygiene products in the event they were required to spend the night. Regina appreciated the sentiment though Emma knew nothing of it. Belle shook the thoughts away and cut Alex's pancake into bite-sized portions, substituting warm honey for syrup.

The girl grinned up at her, clearly thinking something devious. "Mama, why are pancakes round?"

Belle smiled. "Because that's how the batter naturally spreads on the griddle."

"Why?"

"Well, I suppose the heat and thickness of the batter spread slowly enough to allow it to form a circle and solidifies before it destroys the shape."

"Why doesn't it flow in a line like lava?"

Belle smiled and touched the girl's hair as Regina brought her a plate to the table and squeezed her shoulder. "How do you know about lava?" Regina asked before ducking her head out of the door and called for Henry and Emma.

"Wolf showed me on the t.v. There was a mountain, and it went," she waved her arms in the air, flinging honey on her mother's arm as she simulated a volcano. Her excitement grew each second. "And then it," she made a gurgling sound and shot a hand from her mouth like the volcano puked, "like Mama does, and then the lava flowed down the mountain."

"Lava puke. Sounds like a rough morning, Lil Bit," Emma joked and ruffled her hair as she passed. Belle clicked her tongue. Alex protested having her hair brushed once a day. She'd never get a comb through it again. "You still sensitive to cinnamon?" She distracted Belle from her daughter's messy hair.

"I've not vomited in over 24 hours, so I am willing to risk it if you must season your breakfast with the vile substance," Belle answered regally and drizzled honey over the tiny pancake and huge portion of fruit. She grinned and watched her daughter eat unskillfully, still making a mess with her developing motor functions. She babbled about Gizmo and Horace becoming friends, and relief filled her chest that her daughter embraced the monster in the closet rather than fearing it.

"Hey, I'll drop her at daycare if you want," Emma offered as she sat. "I know you got Council this morning."

"How many hours did you sleep last night?" Belle returned rather than accept the offer. Emma shrugged and shoved half of a pancake in her mouth. "I'll decline, but thank you."

"I'll drive, Bookworm," Regina intervened. "I must pick up groceries and take Henry to school. Is Ruby at the farm?"

"Yeah, there was an incident last night. Jack handled it but thought it prudent they both become involved this morning. The pack is splitting beneath each alpha and tensions are rising as to who is actually in charge since Jack lives on the ranch and Ruby does not." She sighed and pressed her fingers into her forehead. They'd predicted this inevitable situation, but she'd not expected to feel so helpless. The wolf community thrived on violence, and Alphas who were not mates rarely ruled cooperatively. It threw the balance. Not to mention, they blamed Ruby for coaxing Batch out of the community and into "her" society. Apparently, "stealing" their Alpha's ward/semi-adopted daughter sparked fire in the hearts of Jack's most loyal.

"Does she need backup?" Emma asked, automatically jumping to her friend's aid. It was the next thing, one more distraction.

Belle sighed and rubbed her belly. "I think Ruby needs to handle this without us. We're not wolves and our presence would only vindicate the accusations that Ruby intends to convert them to mainstream society, which she doesn't. That's the entire purpose of the ranch, to keep them connected to the earth as much as possible while offering safety and shelter and refuge to those who need it. They all vote on housing, and it's completely volunteer-based. No one is forced to be there. This isn't colonialization, and Ruby has taken every step to ensure they know this but some refuse to listen." Both arms covered her belly subconsciously. "Not to mention, there is rumblings of discontent about an Alpha taking a mortal as a mate. Even those loyal to Ruby are not thrilled with me, and they have even demanded that…" she cleared her throat and smiled at her daughter, keeping her tone light, "… that certain people be made into wolves."

Regina and Emma, even Henry, reacted visibly to the new information. It was the first hint of Emma's true protective fire she'd seen since before she recovered her memories. Her body leaned unconsciously toward Alex, breakfast forgotten. "I'll make sure the daycare knows to call one of us immediately if anyone shows up asking questions."

"Thank you." Belle cocked her head to the side, hearing something none of them could. "Batch is here. You're positive you don't mind dropping her off?" She double checked. Emma nodded, still pensive and grounded in the very real threat that lingered in the air. Belle felt instantly better about entrusting her daughter to her damaged friend.

"We'll get her there safely," Regina promised. The doorbell rang, and she pushed off the counter to let Batch inside. Emma gazed at Alex in the silence. The toddler had practically become her daughter, too, and Belle knew that she'd go down swinging to keep harm from the girl, even in her twisted state of constant euphoria she used to combat the grief.

The moment floated away when the young wolf bounded into the kitchen ahead of Regina and Lauren, bringing with her that calm and loving energy. She wore her usual jeans and t-shirt with a wide waterfall braid on one side that stopped in the back and followed her straight hair down her back, the rest free over her back and shoulders. She loved the style and having her hair touched, and Lauren seemed more than happy to do it, spending hours sometimes practicing different styles to perfection until her mutilated hand figured out the proper movements. Belle stood and accepted her customary greeting hug. Everyone got one, even Regina and an awkward Henry who noticed her body far too much for comfort. She remained oblivious, probably not really understanding his attraction. She gestured wildly to Lauren when she finished.

"Batch would like to say that she's very excited to sit in with Council this morning," Lauren explained, and Batch nodded, a beautiful smile on her lips.

"We should be on our way, then," Belle chirped, anxious to share the experience with the girl so eager to learn. She kissed her daughter and wiped unsuccessfully at the honey smear on her cheek. "Be good for The Old Lady today. And what's the most important thing to do every day?"

"Learn something new and make a mistake so I can make it better," Alex repeated something Belle had obviously taught recently. Learn from mistakes, don't fear them.

"And the most important thing of all?" Alex opened her mouth, breathing but not speaking, lost in the question. After a few seconds of staring at her mother, she smiled and touched her chest. "That's right. We always say tell the people we love how much we love them. I love you to sun, baby."

"Love you to the moon, Mama," Alex flung her arms around her neck, and Belle had no doubt that she'd just gotten honey in her hair.

Emma waited until the women left to their respective jobs and then scraped the remainder of breakfast into the trash; she even tossed out her bacon. Regina's jaw jumped, but her tongue stayed still. Emma goaded her, she understood that much at least, exactly like a child probing for some sort of response. The Savior grabbed Annabel who had already eaten and sauntered from the kitchen to play with the infant in the solitude of the living room until they left. Regina sighed into her coffee.

"Is Ma going to be okay?" Henry asked, staring after his other mother.

"Emma is very resilient, Henry. She'll work it out," Regina promised her son, knowing it to be true even if it took a while.

"Are you getting divorced?" He murmured, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Regina's heart tugged towards her son as The Queen surfaced slowly. She pushed her down. "Henry, I'll always love Emma, but sometimes relationships fail even if the couple shares a True Love connection. I'll never replace her. That would be impossible. Who could compare to the love of The Truest Believer?"

"I just don't understand why she's acting this way. If she's so mad at you, why are you here? Why isn't she yelling or trying to fix appliances that aren't broken? It's really bad, isn't it?" Her son poked at his breakfast, too stressed out to eat. No one seemed to be doing anything to help Emma, and it bothered him.

"Henry, we all want to help her," Regina followed his thoughts as easily as she always had. "Emma doesn't want our help, and there is nothing that can be done to alter that fact. She needs time to accept her memories and… my betrayal." She forced the words around a constricted throat.

"I can't believe you were going to leave," he sulked and jabbed at his pancake, metal scraping porcelain obnoxiously. "How can the two of you still love each other so much but not forgive each other enough to be together?"

Regina's heart reached to her son but knew better than to crowd him while he opened up to her. "Love is not conditional, Henry, but relationships, marriages especially, are."

Henry blinked up at her. "That's exactly what Ma said when I asked her. I guess what I'm asking is if you really love each other and are in love with each other, why would you ever stop trying?"

Regina readjusted her hips against the counter and sipped her coffee. Henry stabbed at his food, not really expecting and answer. Movement in the foyer caught her attention, and she met green eyes boring into her soul. "I don't intend to," Regina answered his question, but the words were directed at Emma.

The Savior swallowed roughly and set Annabel on the floor outside of the kitchen, knowing Regina would retrieve her and bolted towards the stairs, probably to shower before they drove into town. That reaction displayed the first real emotion Emma had felt in days, and if they were on more stable ground, Regina might have checked the shower to see if she cried alone or not. As it stood, Regina remained planted against the counter and sipped coffee. Emma said they needed to find stable ground by the river that day, to know that they could push and pull and run without fear that the other would leave or abandon her.

Regina stood strong and waited. Emma would want to talk one day, but until then, she intended to be present every second unless Emma asked her to go.