A/N: I was so looking forward to the next chapter, but this felt like it needed to be written/ said first. I hope you enjoy, and I'm excited for the next couple as they should be fun :D Reviews would be really appreciated :)
When they get back into the Mayor's car, they drive towards her house with little said between them. The blonde sits with her hand buried in the pocket of her leather jacket, clutching the curious vial bestowed on them by Gold, while Regina frowns at the passing scenery which glistens drearily with rain. She doesn't ask if Emma means to come back with her, she just assumes. She would guess that they might have one or two things to talk about following their strange conversation with Gold.
With Rumplestiltskin.
"Are you coming?"
Is all she asks as she parks in front of the steps to the mansion, and the younger woman nods, offering none of the smirked glee she might have given that statement this morning.
"Yeah."
Emma agrees, letting herself out of the Benz and following Regina up the steps to the door. The Mayor lets herself in and stalks towards the kitchen with the blonde in her wake. There they find Johanna and Henry; the former hovering over the stove and several pleasant-smelling saucepans, the latter with his head bowed over a comic book at the table.
"Hello, dearest."
The old maid greets the brunette fondly, before flashing Emma a polite smile. The blonde reciprocates in kind, feeling a small wave of affection towards the elderly redhead that has very little to do with their own interactions and everything to do with the genuine kindness Johanna offers Regina.
"Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. I'm making seafood linguine with a chilli kick. I've had Henry test the sauce."
Jo informs the brunette, grinning as she knows how picky the boy can be when it comes to a little heat. Regina smiles back, feeling altogether much better now that she's away from Gold's shop and its haunted artefacts and back in a safe place with the people she trusts. As such, her nerves have dissipated enough for her to throw a knowing smirk over at her son who rolls his eyes, before her attention lingers momentarily on the blonde; wondering if Henry gets his palate- far less adventurous than her own- from Emma.
Hard to say. Miss Swan has anything but refined taste...
That you know of. It's impossible to say based off the past; she wasn't in any position to be picky back then. She needed to eat and she knew it.
Green eyes flicker up to meet her own as the younger woman becomes aware of her gaze, and she offers a small smile; supposing it says a lot that at no point during her musing has she baulked or resented the thought of the biological tie connecting Emma to her son. It still causes her some disquiet, and she imagines it always will simply due to the circumstances, but on the whole, thinking about what strange and unlikely traits the blonde might have unwittingly passed down lends her more amusement than it does discomfort.
"Will you be joining Madame Mayor for dinner?"
Johanna asks Emma, and the blonde nods after a quick glance to check. Regina smiles, before stalking over to the cupboard to fetch a bottle of wine. She pulls down just two glasses as she knows the redhead rarely drinks on the job whether she is offered the opportunity or not, and pours Emma and herself each a glass of merlot.
"Please, Johanna, dear. Just 'Regina' will be fine around Miss Swan."
She corrects as she hands the younger woman her wine, and her eyes lock for a moment with the blonde's as Emma flashes her a suggestive grin that she swiftly looks away from with a clearing of her throat.
"Where were you guys?"
Henry asks from the corner, and Regina beckons that the blonde should follow her over to the table to take a seat as she replies cryptically
"We were running a couple of errands."
"What kind of errands?"
"Just some things that needed doing outstanding from this morning, before visiting Gold's shop."
The Mayor replies, catching the small twitch of the younger woman's lips at this vague reference to their time spent indulging in their little experiment back in the hospital.
Back in the elevator.
God. Miss Swan should vocalise her sordid curiosities more often.
She swallows but otherwise keeps her composure perfectly. This goes unnoticed by Henry, who has far more interest in what his mothers might have been doing confiding in the Dark One than he does in whatever they might have gotten up to previously, which was most likely grown-up and boring.
"What were you talking to Ru-... Gold about?"
He asks curiously, flashing a glance over at Jo who stands frowning indecisively at the pot of basil growing in the windowsill.
"We were asking if he had any insight on things that might help Emma at all."
The brunette sighs, and the boy's eyes alight with hope which slowly dies as he deduces that the brunette looks anything but excited.
"He couldn't help?"
Henry asks glumly, and the blonde shifts uncomfortably in her chair as she touches her fingers to the vial and starts up uncertainly
"Well... We-"
"-We don't know yet. But we'll keep trying."
Regina interrupts, locking eyes with the younger woman and shaking her head warningly. Emma pulls a face in return and takes a deep, uneasy sip of her wine. They say nothing more on the matter, and the Mayor simply watches as Henry goes back to his comic; turning to the blonde to discuss superpowers and battle stats that mean absolutely nothing to her.
She can't help but feel slightly perturbed at the way Emma will happily argue the practicalities of invisibility over the power of flight, and yet refuses to accept something so simple as her birthright.
That's not fair, it's not the same thing.
None of this is fair.
"Dinner's ready."
Johanna heralds from the counter, and the brunette lets out a sigh of relief and sends Henry off to go and wash his hands before leading them through into the dining room.
Dinner is surprisingly pleasant, the conversation remarkably casual and devoid of too many awkward lulls. Johanna had opted to stay in the kitchen to clean up- needing to head off before it gets too late to call in at the pharmacy on her way home- and so it ends up just being the three of them; each privately surprised at how comfortable they feel with the others.
Since touching on the subject briefly, Henry hasn't given the exact nature of his mother's relationship with Emma any real thought; he has been far too busy thinking of them as the Queen and the Saviour. Now though, watching the two women talk- and laugh! His mother is actually laughing at things the blonde says, and not in a cruel way- he is old enough to understand that the way Regina and Emma look at each other is not the way friends, even old friends, look at one another. Unlike before, this realisation doesn't cause him to blush, but rather to grin. He's known for a long time that his mother had been unhappy. She'd denied it, and had simply said that she missed the blonde who she had told him so much about, but he'd known that it was more than that. She loves him and she'd been careful to keep anything else upsetting her hidden for fear it might cause him distress, but sometimes that facade would fall for just a moment when she'd not known he was looking, and he'd see that his mother was unhappy with the choice she'd made to send Emma away. She'd been lonely, but he'd asked her only once- a couple of years ago- why she didn't simply try to make new friends with some of the people in town. That had been a little while before he'd learned of The Curse, but he'd been fully aware of the fact that Regina had little time for anybody in Storybrooke save for himself and her maid. He'd understood though, even then, that when she'd snapped at him that she had no interest in forcing new acquaintanceships, the irritation in her tone was just a mask, and that what she'd meant was that she didn't want a replacement for the woman she'd told him so much about.
"What did you think of Gold's shop?"
He asks Emma curiously as the blonde reaches for the pepper, and she hesitates, momentarily frozen, before completing her task with slow efficiency. Regina watches on, wondering if Emma means to answer.
"...It was interesting. There were a lot of quite strange things in there, some of them nicer than others. It's a bit of an odd place, though."
"Why do you think that?"
Henry pushes, and Emma shrugs as she challenges simply
"Don't you agree?"
"...Yes."
The boy states finally, before leaning across the table to address the blonde with blunt honesty
"But I think that because the things he has in there are magic. They're enchanted... What about you?"
Henry's words are bold, but the brunette catches a shadow flicker at his throat as he swallows. She has not raised him to be a difficult child, and certainly, she has taught him to respect his elders. He is headstrong though, and brave. For a moment, she considers stepping in- spying a glimmer of discomfort alight the blonde's eyes, and unsure whether it stems from Henry's challenge or from the awkwardness she is fully aware the younger woman still feels in knowing who the boy is- but in the end she decides to allow Emma to find her feet. After all, Henry's bold request for an explanation is something she has had to endure from the blonde's lips many a time, and she is curious to see how this will play out.
"I don't know what I think, yet."
Emma replies eventually, but there is nothing dismissive in her tone, just apologetic honesty, and the boy's young brow furrows, but he nods his acceptance.
"We'll find a way to work it out."
Regina assures quietly, watching as the blonde's hand goes to the pocket of her jacket, and she flashes the younger woman a small smile before instructing Henry to take his empty plate to the kitchen and get together any bits he might need before going to bed.
He does as he's told, and by the time she and Emma are loading their own plates into the dishwasher and pouring themselves a second glass of wine, he's back down in the kitchen clad in his pyjamas to say goodnight. He does so without any real thought at first; padding up to his mother as he always does to give her a hug and accept a kiss to the crown of his head. It's only when he turns around and is faced with saying goodnight to the blonde that he falters. He can sense that he's not alone in this as he can see the way she stiffens a little as she offers him a wide grin that speaks quite clearly of nervousness. He recalls the way he had understood back in his castle- back when he had found Emma sat huddled and alone- that he was the one taking charge of the situation, but he hadn't minded at all. Similarly now, he feels unsure rather than uncomfortable, but rather than allow the feeling to flourish, he takes a couple of steps forward and opens his arms tentatively, waiting to see what she'll do. He has hugged her before, but it had been to offer solace and comfort, nothing so ordinary and familiar as a familial embrace.
"Goodnight."
He offers her quietly, and she nods as she allows him to wrap his arms around her waist, bending down a little so that she can give him a brief squeeze back. Henry appears delighted by this, seemingly willing to push any of the awkwardness tainting the moment aside as he turns for the door and leaves. Emma seems a little less sure what to do with herself, and she replaces Henry's embrace with her own; standing with her arms tightly clutched over her stomach in an almost defensive manner. She looks down at the floor, but when Regina clears her throat, she meets her gaze slowly; a little nervous about what she might find in the darker woman's eyes.
I'm sorry if that wasn't the right way to handle that, but fuck, I don't know the right way to handle it! Maybe that makes me a bad person, I don't know. I honestly don't. All I know is that I have no clue if I feel happy or sad, and that's strange for me. Usually, I know exactly how I feel, whether others like it or not. But not here. Not with him. And not always with you.
In the end, she finds she is no more able to read Regina's emotions than she is able to grasp her own, but when she thins her lips nervously, the brunette reciprocates with a smile.
"It will get easier."
The Mayor assures quietly, and Emma sighs as she sips from her wine and asks in a low tone
"For me or for you?"
"... I would suspect for the both of us. I've had a long time to process who you are and how this might go."
"I know that..."
"Well, if what I have told you thus far is to be believed."
Regina points out with a tight smile, and the blonde shakes her head as she leans against the counter and contemplates her glass.
"I believe you on that count. Wholly and fully. I might still be struggling to understand how ten years have passed where I lost all memory of this place, and I might still resist the reasons you've given me for everything, but I accept that you've known I'm Henry's... Who I am to Henry for all that time... But I've known that my parents, my mother, left me in the woods as a newborn for twenty-eight years, and it's never gotten easier due to the passing of time. Resentment and anger made it easier, but I would be very sorry if that was how Henry started to deal with this, despite perhaps deserving it."
"... You know my thoughts on that."
"I do... All due respect though, it's no longer just your thoughts that might be vocalised on the matter."
"I agree, but I've told you; Henry has been told precisely why and how things came to be. You may retell him of those matters in your own words, and you can fill in any blanks I might not have been in a position to explain, but he knows the important factors of how he came to live here with me. He doesn't hold you accountable for the past, but he will for what happens from here on out. Like it or not, he sees you very much as family, and he has some pretty high expectations now that you've come back. I appreciate that might seem unfair, but I think it's important that you understand what's at stake... So long as you remain open to letting me help you, Henry will understand and try to help where he can. He cares about you, I hope you realise that. You have a chance now to show him who you are, and not the awful person you've always imagined he'd think you to be.
"... By believing in a bunch of fairytales. If I could, I would... I understand what you're saying, but that's a little unfair; tying the kid's emotions into what you've asked me to do."
"The whole situation is unfair, but what I've just told you is not. Henry needs you to do this just as much as everyone else in this town. The only person that doesn't need you to do it is me. However, as I've said, I want you to do it. I would never attempt to win your mind over on this using guilt... After all, I am not exactly in a place to point the finger when it comes to you, and I would fear to have such an act retaliated upon.
I merely think that it is important for you to know that your son- our son- truly believes that you can do this. He has faith in you."
Regina confides gravely, and she watches as Emma looks swiftly out the window; seemingly suddenly transfixed on something with her full attention, despite darkness having set in leaving the world beyond the glass a mystery. She scratches at her nose, quickly swiping her finger beneath her eye, and when she finally looks back at the brunette- her composure held with her breath- her brow furrows as the Mayor regards her with amusement.
"What?"
The blonde snaps, and the darker woman shrugs before turning around and heading for the door.
"Nothing, dear."
She smirks to herself as Emma falls into step behind her as she leads them upstairs to her bedroom. There, she takes a seat on the bed, smiling at the younger woman as Emma closes the door behind them and leans against the painted wood with her hands shoved in her pockets.
"You know, you can take that hideous thing off, I am paying for the house to be heated."
Regina points out, and the blonde grins distractedly as she works her way out of red leather, quipping back
"That's such a transparent argument. I know you just want to perv."
"Hmm... I'm not sure I appreciate the term, but I do appreciate the view, this is true."
The brunette agrees, watching as the younger woman stalks over to her dresser to lay her jacket on top after removing the glass vial from the pocket.
Turning back to face the Mayor, Emma walks over to the bed to perch opposite her, laying the vial down between them carefully before looking up into glittering coals.
"So... I guess we should talk about this."
